Living
by MadLadyFenolo
Summary: Second part to Feeling! Athaya isn't a teenager any longer. Eight years after her encounter with the king of the crossroads, she's well on her way to finding out what Azazel has in store for her, but along the road, perhaps bumping into two certain brothers wouldn't be completely out of the question...As continued from last time: possible romance later on.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:**** Hi again! **

**And so begins the second part to this tale, and Athaya's adventures continue when she's now 24 years old, somewhere in the middle of Season Two. Getting this off the ground might be a little dull, but I'll try and get to the action as soon as I can! There are just a few things I need to set up first! This one's a short chapter, but I might upload another one later :)**

**Living:**

Chapter One:

_~Present Day~_

'Hey sweetheart, over here.'

Athaya inwardly sighed. Working at a bar as a waitress wasn't exactly what she'd thought was awaiting her when Crowley sent her on her way eight years ago. True, it was only temporary, but…she did what she had to do.

She plastered on a fake smile and walked to the bar until she came to where the voice had come from, silently cursing the low-cut top that was part of her waitress attire. The balding man at the table smiled and his eyes drifted downwards.

'Hey. I've got a lot of people to serve. Do you want something or not?' Over the past eight years, Athaya's accent had now perfected. You'd never be able to tell she was originally Australian. Only when she was truly concentrating would you catch a glimpse of the young girl from the Sunshine coast.

At the moment, Athaya didn't have time to play along with the man's game. Usually she'd smile and ignore him before continuing about her business, but today she didn't have the patience. She had other work to do after her shift ended.

The man's gaze lifted to her face and he smirked. 'I'll grab a bowl of chips and today's special.'

_I'll make it real special. With poison, perhaps._ But all she said was: 'Will there be anything else?'

'I can think of a few things.' The man grinned suggestively and Athaya rolled her eyes.

'Hey, back of buddy.' Interjected a voice gently from the seat next to Athaya. She turned to see a handsome young man nursing a beer, smiling good-naturedly at Athaya and the guy she was taking an order from. 'Give her some space,' he added.

'What are you gonna do about it?' The man next to Athaya said and she sensed an incoming fight.

Well. She _felt_ it.

'Hey. Break it up, guys. I'm just here to take your orders.' She turned to the balding man and pointed at him. 'You, I'm done with. Your meal will be here shortly.' The man frowned and waved his hand like she wasn't worth the bother and Athaya rolled her eyes. Then she turned to the other man and frowned. 'And you. I need this job. Don't jeopardise it, alright? I can handle myself.'

He grinned. 'I bet you can.' Seconds later he realised that was the wrong thing to say. 'Sorry. I can see you're a perfectly capable woman. I was just trying to lend a hand.'

Athaya's tone softened. She felt he was being genuine. 'It's okay. I'm fine, really.' She tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her ear. 'Is there anything I can get you?'

'Uh, yeah. Could I grab the – uh,' he glanced up at the menu and scanned it briefly. 'The chef's special burger? Actually, make that two.'

'Is that all?'

'That's all I need, thanks.'

'I'll bring it out shortly.' Athaya scribbled down the two orders and walked away, heading for the kitchen. It had been nice for the guy to try and intervene, but she really needed the job.

It was the only way she could get close to the spirit.

**AN:**** Soooooo. What do you think? It's got a completely different feel to the previous part in Athaya's life, I know, but she's still the same person, just with a little more experience and an interesting job. I'll upload the next chapter soon, coz this one's a shortie! **

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hi guys! Sorry about the lateness, school has just started to get quite intense, and so I'll have to cut back on the swiftness of my uploading – sorry! It will probably eventually come down to once or twice a week – unfortunately that's just how it is L But thank you for the reviews! It just makes my day and I'm glad you're still enjoying the story J**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

Chapter Two:

As soon as Athaya had left Crowley's company, that was when her real work started. She went south, making her way across Canada until she came to Washington State. That was when she got into some trouble.

It hadn't been her fault that she'd felt the man was in danger. She hadn't meant to draw any attention to herself, but what she'd done instead…was save his life.

His name had been Kenny, and he'd insisted on repaying Athaya for saving him from the colossal branch that had come plummeting towards him after a bout of strong wind. He'd been so grateful, and Athaya couldn't bring herself to say 'no' when he offered her a place to stay. After all, he'd gotten out of hospital with only a fractured wrist because Athaya had flung herself at him.

Athaya herself had been slightly worse off, with a broken arm and fractured rib. So needless to say, Kenny had been very adamant that he repay her for putting her own life at risk.

Kenny had been a middle-aged man when she met him, with a sun-freckled face and a square jaw. To this day, when Athaya saw anyone with orange hair, she was instantly reminded of him.

He had given her a place to stay as she travelled through Seattle, and after saying she wasn't really sure where she was going, Kenny decided to offer her permanent lodging. His daughter and wife had died when the girl was young, leaving Kenny widowed at the age of thirty-eight. For three years he'd been alone, but he'd done a lot.

Hunting monsters for one.

Athaya had accidently stumbled upon his guns after two months of living with him. He'd disappear for days at a time, claiming he was on a 'business trip,' but whenever Athaya asked about them, his answers were vague and lacking in any proper detail. Kenny was a kind man, but strict about not going into his study. However, despite his warnings, one day Athaya felt that she had to go in there, or she'd miss out on something important. Something that would change her life. And then she found a whole lot more than she bargained for. She'd found a folder containing all his notes and the room contained hundreds of other weapons she never heard of.

And that was how Athaya found out that a werewolf killed Kenny's family, and that he'd hunted for years for the beast, taking him down a path he'd never turn back from. A week later, she told him about her discovery and her special ability to _feel _things. Kenny had been surprised to say the least, but from that moment on, Athaya had begun training; learning everything she could about the monsters she'd been told stories about since she was a girl.

She'd promised Crowley she'd stay clear of the creatures, but since she was labelled as 'hands off', she used that to her advantage, realising at an early age that monsters were less eager to kill her when they knew someone high up was looking out for her. It usually never lasted for long, not when they discovered she was actually able to kill them, but more often than not, it bought her some valuable time.

When Athaya was eighteen, Kenny had taken her out on her first hunt for a spirit haunting a highway one state over. Athaya had been thrilled when the spirit moved on after an intense twelve hours of searching for an unmarked grave. That had been an easy one.

She eventually left after another few years of helping out, when Kenny finally took on a case too hard. A nest of vamps had proven to be too much for the man, and afterwards, he retired with a gimpy leg, wounded, but still eager to teach Athaya everything he knew.

She loved Kenny like a dad, and was glad he'd helped her out back then. Now she hunted solo, occasionally stopping off back at Seattle when she could, or calling him up for advice when she needed a hand. He was a quirky guy, and always had stories to tell her whenever she felt inclined to listen.

Now she was at a bar in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, hunting the vengeful spirit of Charlotte Sanders, a prostitute that had been murdered in the 1920's, back when the bar had been a brothel. Athaya was actually surprised that there weren't more spirits in the building, considering its shady background, but it appeared that there was only Charlotte.

She was constantly aware that Azazel could come for her at any moment, but she ignored that most days, taking Crowley's advice and living her life the best she could. Occasionally, it would get her down, but what could she do? She knew how to kill demons now, so that was a small advantage. And hopefully he still thought she was dead.

It was Crowley who had first suggested she try to figure out how to hunt demons, but his words had been in jest, saying she looked far too fragile. Well. She'd done a pretty good job so far.

In eight years, Athaya had grown a further two inches, making her five foot ten. She towered over several of her co-workers at the bar, but didn't mind. She liked being tall. And just because she was eight years older didn't mean she was any more mature. Now, she was just a teenager with experience.

As Athaya brought the orders back to the kitchen, she took the time to observe all the people in the building. Right now, they were all at risk from Charlotte. Couples, families, friends. She even felt concern for the slime ball from the other day. It wouldn't do to see any of them die.

She'd just have to kill the thing before it did any more damage.

The ghost's profile was killing girls every seven years. Like clockwork, after seven years, a young female in the bar would drop dead, stabbed by an invisible knife. That didn't mean she would leave other people alone if they got in the way, but it meant Athaya could keep a closer eye out on girls at risk. Athaya guessed Charlotte had been killed by a fellow prostitute, because that would explain her fixation with knocking off young women. Whatever the case, she had to be stopped.

It was after her shift that Athaya's real work began. At 10 o'clock, she signed out, exiting through the kitchen door and making her way to the back one. Then she slipped inside and started going through the rooms, searching for any items that could have been left behind. Her excuse was that she worked there, and was just searching for the bathroom.

Charlotte had been cremated, so it must have been an item of some sort – left behind from the 20's – that she was still connected to. Athaya had been working at the bar for almost a week now, and in that time, she'd gone through half of the many rooms out the back, used as storage and private areas. She'd come up with nothing.

She sighed as she pulled yet another box down from a shelf and started sorting through it. More often than not, she'd find something that could have belonged to the dead hooker, but it would be a fake, or just another piece of worthless junk. It was like when the owners of the bar had bought the place, they hadn't bothered to clean it out, opting instead to shove half of the boxes into already overstuffed rooms to make space for more storage.

It was a boring, taxing procedure, and at 2am, Athaya finally called it a day, driving her car to the nearby motel, where she was crashing while she was in town. Athaya's beautiful steel grey '67 Mustang Reactor was a car to be reckoned with. She loved her car. It was a work of art. She'd spent a small fortune tracking it down and buying it, but it was well worth the money. She figured, what the heck? If she was going to hell anyways, might as well do it in style.

When she pulled into the parking lot, she didn't notice anything amiss, and unlocked the door to her room, closing it behind her with a gentle thud. She glanced at the clock. _2:49am_.

Great. Athaya had a whole two and half hours sleep until she needed to be back at work.

It was good being a hunter.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:**** Hi everyone! Sorry it's taken me so long, but here's the next chapter! Hope everyone's still enjoying my story, and you've probably guessed who's going to be making an appearance soon J**

**Enjoy!**

**Xxx **

**~Fen~**

Chapter Three:

Normally, Athaya's main motto was: don't attract attention. During her eight years, she'd had a pretty hard time keeping to that motto, because there was just so much to draw attention _to._ The world was full of wonderful things, and Athaya treasured everything she could, knowing that at any moment she might lose everything.

But eventually, after the first week passed in Sioux Falls, Athaya realised she was going to have to start talking to people; to delve into Charlotte's past. To draw attention. Usually, she just dug around quietly, relying on obituaries, police reports and local gossip to get her what she needed.

Apparently that just wasn't going to cut it this time.

* * *

Athaya was halfway through her Friday shift when she noticed something for the first time.

The guy from the other day was there again.

Not the bald one, the handsome one who had defended her. He was wearing a brown plaid shirt that was open to reveal a plain grey t-shirt underneath. Athaya had to admit it suited him. But what was he doing there _again_? He wasn't a local, she knew all the regulars by name now. He appeared to be talking to a friend – slightly taller than him, and looking at something intently. She walked past him a couple of times just to be sure, and when she eventually went to take his order, it only confirmed her suspicions.

'Hi, how are you today? What can I get you?' She asked cheerily, wondering if the man would notice she was the same girl. He was looking at a laptop on the bench, although his taller friend seemed to be doing all the work. The man from the other day turned and gave her a dashing smile.

'Oh, hey. It's you again. How're you doing?'

'I'm good, thanks, and yourself?'

'I'm alright. A little sleep deprived, maybe, but generally good.' Athaya was once again struck by how good-looking the man was and took a moment to tear her gaze away from his beautiful green eyes.

The man in plaid's other friend stopped what he was doing to look up at her and smiled. 'Hi.' Athaya realised he too, was wearing plaid, only in blue.

_Jeez. It's not national plaid day, is it? _

The man in blue turned to his friend, 'Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, Dean?'

'Well I would, if I knew her name.' The man named Dean turned to glance at Athaya's name badge and grinned. 'Hi Thaya.' He nodded to himself, 'I'm Dean and this is my brother Sam.' He gestured in between the two of them. 'Sam, this is Thaya.'

'Nice to meet you,' said Sam and Athaya realised that the good looks weren't limited to Dean alone. Really? Two attractive brothers? Athaya was having a hard time handling just one, and then along came another.

'I just wanted to say thanks for what you did the other day. It was a nice gesture.' She said after a moment of staring. Dean grinned in appreciation and winked at her.

'Well, what did he do?' Sam inquired, nudging his brother slightly and Dean smiled at Athaya disarmingly.

'I just lent a hand. Some guy was being a douche and I asked him nicely to back off. Turns out I didn't have to. Thaya can take care of herself.'

Athaya blushed slightly and shook her head. 'It was still a nice thing to do, so thanks.

'Any time, Thaya.'

'Is there anything I can get you guys?'

'Oh, um, two more of those chef's specials. They were fantastic, weren't they, Sammy?' Dean looked meaningfully at Sam and he smiled like he was used to his brother's antics.

'Anything else?' Athaya asked and Dean shook his head, then seemed to change his mind.

'Tell you what,' he leaned in slightly, 'There's actually something you could do to lend a hand. See, me and my _brother_ here, we're actually FBI, and we're scoping out the place.'

'Why? What for? So you're not really brothers?' Athaya knew it was too good to be true. Two brothers, both drop dead gorgeous? She didn't think so.

'Nope. This is Agent Samuel Nimoy and I'm Agent Dean Shatner. We're investigating the death of several girls which occurred here over the past few decades.'

Athaya froze, but feigned ignorance, 'What?' She tried her hardest to look innocent. 'I've heard about them, sure, but you think they're all related?'

Dean shrugged and gave her a _what-can-you-do_ look. 'We don't know, but that's why we're here.'

'But why now?' Athaya questioned, 'The last murder was like seven years ago. Why is the FBI even involved?'

'It's just a routine check-up on cases of this nature.'

'This…nature?'

'Unsolved,' Sam offered and Dean shot him a smile of gratitude. 'We're just here to make sure it doesn't happen again. It seems like every seven years, another girl dies, so we're just here to make sure nothing bad happens this time around.'

Athaya realised she'd need bring her acting skills into play now. 'Wait…you don't think…it could happen _again_, do you? Wouldn't the murderer be dead by now?' Apparently her acting wasn't too shabby, because the two men played right into her question.

Dean nodded, 'See, that's the thing. We think maybe they had an assistant, or maybe someone's playing copycat, following in their predecessor's footsteps.'

Athaya nodded seriously, 'Right. I totally understand. But what is it that you want from me? I only started working here a week ago, but I guess sometimes you hear things…?'

Sam took a sip from his beer and stared at her for a second while Dean continued. Athaya suddenly felt the tell-tale tingling on the back of her neck that meant that something important was going on. She turned away slightly to pick up some glasses and let the feeling take over briefly.

When she came back, Dean was still talking, but Athaya's suspicions had been confirmed.

'…So if maybe you could show us some of the rooms in the back, we'd be real grateful.' He looked at her earnestly and Athaya plastered a fake smile to her face as she inwardly cringed.

They were hunters.

* * *

'Uh…sure. Just let me finish my shift, so I can supervise you.' Athaya immediately started trying to figure out how to best get rid of them. One hunter might not attract a lot of attention, but three of them poking around? She would be found out for sure.

'Oh, that's not necessary, Thaya. Agent Nimoy and I can take care of ourselves.'

Athaya nodded in understanding, but then let a small frown form on her face, her eyebrows crinkling slightly. 'But I'd have to keep an eye on you. My boss wouldn't like it if you guys were just left to wander around by yourselves'

'It's okay, Thaya,' Sam said reasonably, 'We're FBI, we won't touch anything.'

_Yeah right. My ass._ 'Oh…well, I'll have to check with my supervisors. Tell you what, I finish in a couple of hours, if you can stick around until then, I'll see what I can do.'

'Sounds great, Thaya. Thanks.' Dean flashed her another grin and Athaya had to stop herself from smiling like a schoolgirl.

_Snap out of it._ No time for childish fantasies. They were fellow hunters, obviously there to find the same thing she was, and they were going to get here killed.

But Athaya had gotten there first.

She resolved to tell them who she was if she hadn't come up with something solid by the next day. Maybe then they'd leave her alone and let her kill the spirit without drawing too much attention to herself. She still had another four days until the spirit killed another girl. Every 5th of April, that was when the ghost struck, usually killing some woman passing by. These guys could probably lend a hand, if the occasion arose. Maybe.

Athaya took the order back to the kitchen and spent the next half an hour in a mild daze, trying to figure out how to speed up her hunting process, mainly by finding some relative of the dead prostitute. She couldn't think of where to start, and had just taken the 'Agents' their meal when a familiar face walked in the door to plant himself on a stool at the bar.

'Hey Bobby! How ya doing?' Athaya grinned.

'I'm well, Thaya, thanks for asking.' His words sounded fine enough, but Bobby Singer's voice was lacking some of its usual good humour. Not to mention that Athaya could feel it too.

'No. Something's up. What's happening?' Athaya scolded and put her hands on her hips.

He chuckled, 'Never can get anything past you. If you must know, I'm actually here on business.'

Now it was Athaya's turn to laugh. 'Business? At a bar? At this time of the night? The only business anyone has _here_ is making sure they feel good by the time they go home.'

'Yeah, well, those perks aside, I'm here to find…oh. There they are.' He nodded towards some people and stood up to walk over to them. Athaya almost dropped the glass she was holding.

He was looking at Sam and Dean.

_No way. _What was Bobby doing searching for those two?

'You know each other?' She said tightly, trying to hide her surprise. Bobby nodded and clapped the boys on the back roughly.

'These two? I've known them since they were pups.'

Sam winced and Dean shook his head in amazement. 'Hey Bobby. How's life?'

'The usual.'

Dean laughed and turned to Thaya. 'So, Thaya. How do you know this scoundrel?' Bobby sent the man a glare and Dean grinned. 'He hasn't been harassing you, has he?'

'Not at all,' Athaya smiled. 'He's one of my favourite customers.'

Bobby nodded in approval and shrugged. 'What can I say? I'm a real catch.'

'So how does a guy like you know these two _agents?'_ She asked him curiously.

'Ah, well…I knew their dad. It's nice to know they stop in from time to time.'

'Stop in?' Athaya asked. 'But I thought you were here on a case, boys? And didn't you say business, Bobby?' Athaya smiled as she watched all three men freeze momentarily.

Sam reacted the fastest, 'We were just passing through, thought we'd pop in to see Bobby here, and that's when we got a call about the murders.' Sam said, the lie rolling off his tongue easily.

_Right. And I'm just a girl trying to pay her rent._

'Oh, Wow. That sure is lucky.'

Dean smiled awkwardly, 'Sure is…But…you don't want to hear this. You probably have other things to do, don't you, Thaya?'

'You'd be surprised. Business has been pretty slow lately.' Athaya leant against the bar and folded her arms. 'So, how is Bobby helping you guys out?'

'Oh, he's a bit of a local legend buff. We're just seeing if he's heard anything about the murders that could help us out.'

'Right. Actually, if it's not too much trouble, I wanted to ask you something, Bobby. Later. Once I've finished my shift. It might seem strange, but it's pretty _urgent.'_ She stressed the word, and saw his face change briefly from calm to concern, and then back again. Athaya had to tell him his friends weren't what they seemed. He obviously didn't know they weren't real agents. They were stringing him along, for sure. She wouldn't let them. In fact, she would get to him first. Sam and Dean didn't seem to notice her secret message, but Athaya wasn't paying full attention to them. She just needed to know Bobby would talk to her.

'Oh. Sure thing, Thaya. Just let me know when you want to talk.' He turned to the bartender and held his hand up to signal for a beer before smiling reassuringly at Athaya.

'Great. I should be done in an hour. Think you can wait until then?'

'Absolutely. I'll just have a chat with these two and then I'm all yours.' Athaya noticed something strange about him. He wasn't telling her something. She couldn't quite pinpoint what, but then again…Athaya wasn't really sure she wanted to know. She ignored it and resolved to ask him about it later.

'Thanks. Oh, and is there anything else I can get you guys?' Now she spoke to all of them.

Athaya almost didn't hear the response as Dean said 'Got any pie?' at the same time that Bobby requested: 'Peach cobbler, if you've got any.'

Athaya laughed and nodded, writing both orders down before turning to Sam. 'Anything for you?'

'Nah, I'm all set. Thanks, Thaya.' He smiled and she returned it half-heartedly.

'My pleasure. I'll be back in a minute.'

**AN:**** Well then. What do you all think? I'll try and upload another chapter tomorrow, but from now on, it'll probably be slightly erratic. What will happen next? Will Athaya figure out that Bobby isn't who he seems either? Find out soon!**

**Xxx **

**~Fen~**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:**** Hi guys! Here's another chapter – as promised. Once again I apologise about my tardiness, but here it is anyways. This one's a long one, though, so that should keep you happy! Hope everyone's still enjoying my story.**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

Chapter Four:

After Athaya had finished serving the two hunters and their unknowing friend, she went through the rest of her chores in a daze, impatiently wanting her final hour to be over and done with so she could warn Bobby about the boys' false façades.

After what seemed like forever, she finished up, taking off her badge and swapping it for a black cardigan. She walked out into the bar and Bobby looked up from where he sat, discussing something of import with the boys. Bobby immediately got up and came to where Athaya had taken a seat on the very far side of the room in a booth.

'So…what seems to be the problem, Thaya? I got your message from earlier. What's bugging you?'

Athaya leant forward and glanced over at the two other men briefly, relieved to see their attentions turned elsewhere. 'I…uh. This might sound crazy, Bobby, and you know I'd never want to say something that would make you uncomfortable…but…'

'You're secretly in love with me?' Bobby took a swig of his beer and shrugged. 'Eh. It happens. Unfortunately, I have to inform you that I consider myself more married to my work, but – '

'Bobby!' Athaya hissed, 'This is serious! Those guys aren't who they say they are!'

Bobby froze, his bottle halfway to his mouth. 'And what makes you say that?'

'They say they're FBI, but I _know_ they're lying.'

'And what makes you say _that?_' He frowned over at the boys briefly, and Athaya followed his gaze. Dean looked up at that precise moment and locked eyes with her before she quickly turned away.

'Because…_I'm _FBI.' Athaya pulled her fake ID out of her bag and showed it to him. 'And those two don't exist. I'm letting you know you're being played.'

'Is that so?' Bobby frowned but didn't look anywhere but at her. 'So then why are they impersonating a couple of agents?'

'Who knows? I don't know how, but they're here trying to look into the same case _I'm _looking at. That's what I wanted to tell you. Don't tell them anything. I'm going to report them as soon as I leave.'

And by report, Athaya meant possibly _taser _their asses and haul them out of town. But Bobby didn't need to know that.

'So what do you want me to do about it?' Bobby asked and Athaya blinked in surprise.

'You? Nothing. But you can help me do something about it by telling me everything you know about this girl. Charlotte Sanders. Have you ever heard the name before?'

'Charlotte Sanders?' Bobby frowned like he was deep in thought, but Athaya saw the recognition spark in his eyes. 'I might have heard that name before. Why do you want to know?'

'Because she was the first murder. If I can figure out what happened to her, perhaps that can lead me to the killer before she – uh, they – strike again. You've heard about the seven-year murders, I presume? This girl would have been working here – a prostitute, I think – during the twenties.'

'Yeah. That definitely rings a bell now. I seem to recall that she was twenty-something…uh, she had no kids…but…'

'What about a sibling? Did she have a sister? Or a brother?' Athaya tried not to look too enthusiastic but suspected she failed slightly. Bobby laughed and nodded slowly.

'I reckon she did have a sister, if I recall. It was in the newspapers. I think I've got a copy of it somewhere at home, actually. I'd be happy to bring it in for you tomorrow?'

'Really? That'd be great. D'you think you could do that for me?'

He smiled, 'Absolutely. As long as you promise me you'll stay out of trouble.'

'What do you mean?' Athaya smiled uncertainly.

'Well. As I remember it, this murderer kills young women. That's you, Thaya. You're the perfect target.'

Athaya started. She'd never considered that it would come after her. She was a hunter. Not a victim. She shook her head. 'Nah. I'll be fine. It's my job to find this monster, and I'll do my job no matter what.'

Bobby weighed her carefully for a moment before nodding. 'Alright…you seem like a competent girl.'

_You have no idea._ Right now, Athaya could have read every single person in the room. Over the past few years, her powers had grown substantially, and now she fancied she could have picked up on a feeling from the other side of town. She could tell if a man was cheating on his wife, or what day someone would have their baby, or when the next rainfall would be. But Athaya had also been working to block her powers out. She didn't want them to improve. She wanted them to go away.

So for the past three years, Athaya had perfected tuning her feelings out unless they directly applied to the situation. It was almost like her abilities reached outwards from her in a certain diameter, and she'd made that circle smaller. But in reality, it was much more complicated than that.

The _reality_ was that Athaya couldn't risk letting her powers overwhelm her. If she let go and used them too often…Athaya knew she'd never stop. She'd keep spiralling. And that's when Azazel would find her.

'Thanks,' Athaya said distractedly, then refocused. 'I mean it. It makes my job a lot easier.'

'Happy to help.' He took a swig of his beer and adjusted his cap slightly. 'So…is there anything else I can help with?'

Athaya thought for a moment. 'Well…I don't think so. Just anything you can find on Charlotte and her family.'

'Sounds good to me. You're lucky I'm such local history buff…I'll see you tomorrow then?'

'Fantastic. Cheers, Bobby.' Athaya smiled as he stood up and walked away, nodding to Sam and Dean before leaving the bar.

Athaya sighed and gathered her things. It was just getting far too complicated. Hopefully, after talking to Bobby some more, she'd be able to kill this thing once and for all. But until then, she was going to give the fact that she was a possible target some serious thought.

'Yo! Thay-Thay.' Athaya looked up to see her friend Chelsea, waving frantically as she walked over to her. Chelsea was another waitress, and the only one about the same age as Athaya, so the two girls had grown close in the short week that Athaya had been there. Chelsea was a head shorter than Athaya, with blonde, choppy hair coming down to her shoulders. She was also the most bubbly, fun person that Athaya had ever met.

'God! I'm just still so ecstatic that there's another girl here. I can't get over it! I was so bored for months,' the girl complained as she threw herself into the seat next to Athaya.

'Well now you've got me, Chels.' Athaya grinned and nudged her. 'So quit whining.'

'Hah! But you're the only one who listens!' Chelsea grinned and pulled a couple of beers out of her bag. 'Here. On me.'

Athaya scrunched her nose slightly. 'Did you pay for these?'

'Of course! How could even _think _that I'd do something so fiendish?'

'Because it's you, and it's beer,' Athaya smiled and accepted the cold drink gratefully, taking a sip before leaning back against the seat and sighing.

'What's up?' Chelsea asked, growing slightly sober.

'Oh, nothing. Just thinking about things I have to do.' _Find a ghost. Kill it. Escape a crazy demon. Hope a different one finds me in hell. See where that takes me._ The usual.

'Ooohhh. What kind of _things?_' Chelsea winked suggestively and Athaya sighed.

'Not those kind of things, dummy.' Athaya hadn't thought about those kinds of things in ages.

'Then what?'

'Oh, I've just got to do something tomorrow.'

'Yeah…but…it's tomorrow, right?' Chelsea said obviously.

'Yeah…' Athaya said half-heartedly.

'So we've got the whole night to waste!' The other girl clinked her glass against Athaya and grinned. 'To tomorrows that we never want to face.'

'I'll drink to that.' Athaya raised her glass to the toast and took a long swig.

'Whoa. Speaking of _those things…_Hotties at ten o'clock,' Chelsea nudged Athaya and the girl glanced up to see where her friend was looking.

Straight at Sam and Dean.

Athaya choked on her drink, 'Yeah…I guess so.'

'Come on! Let's have some fun! I saw you talking to them earlier. The guy in brown was _totally _into you.'

Athaya laughed. If only her friend knew who they were. 'Nah. They look kind of…'

'Gorgeous? Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too.'

They both laughed. 'No. I just don't feel like it tonight,' Athaya said gloomily.

'You sure?' Chelsea grew serious and sipped her beer delicately. 'Your loss.'

'No…It's just…' Athaya changed her mind. 'Actually…I _do_ have to talk to them anyways. I promised I'd see if I could show them around the back.'

'What? Why?' Chelsea asked.

'Er…' Athaya tried to come up with the least crazy excuse, 'They're local history buffs. They want to see the building where all the girls get murdered every seven years.' She tried to make them seem as weird as possible in the hopes of deterring her friend. No such luck.

'Oh wow. That's creepy…' Chelsea looked over at the two men suspiciously. 'But that doesn't make them any less hot.'

Athaya barked a laugh and finished off the last of her beer. Then she grabbed her handbag and stood up. After looking at Chelsea for a long moment, she sighed. 'Fine. You're welcome to come and talk to them, if you like.'

'Yes!' Chelsea didn't even attempt to conceal her excitement. 'But just so you know: I have dibs on the tall one.'

Athaya rolled her eyes. 'Sure. Whatever makes you happy.'

Chelsea stood up and linked her arm through Athaya's. 'It does,' she said earnestly.

The two girls left their empty bottles behind and made their way over to the two men. Athaya sat down in the seat next to Dean and her friend took the next one over.

'Hey guys. My shift's finally over.'

Dean turned to smile at her. 'Hey, Thaya! That's great. So…how'd you go asking if we could take a look back there?'

'Well…I asked my boss…and he said no. I'm really sorry guys. I wanted to help out, honestly,' Athaya wasn't lying. She wanted to help. It's just she didn't want to help other hunters.

Dean frowned slightly. 'Ah, that's okay. I mean, it could be the difference between finding this killer or not, but I'm sure Agent Nimoy and I can come up with something.'

Chelsea cleared her throat loudly and nudged Athaya. 'Dude. I thought you said you were gonna _help_ them. Now they'll never – oh. Er, hi?' Chelsea realised that Sam and Dean were both looking at her and she blushed. 'I'm Chelsea.'

'Nice to meet you, Chelsea. You're friends with Thaya?' Sam asked her politely and Athaya could have sworn she saw the girl visibly swoon.

'Yeah. I was the only girl around here for months, and then this little chicky-babe shows up and suddenly I have a friend!' She grinned enthusiastically and nudged Athaya slightly. Athaya, to her credit, just smiled and tried to ignore her friend's antics.

'I'm Sam, and this is my brother, Dean.'

So it was back to their first lie? _That's a plus_, Athaya thought. At least Chelsea didn't think they were FBI.

Just as Athaya was thinking about it, Dean gave her a wink and she found herself blushing. He leant in slightly closer until he could whisper in her ear. 'Don't tell her we're FBI, sweetheart. Trying to keep it undercover,' he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

If Athaya didn't know he was lying, she would have sworn he was telling the truth. He sounded so sincere. She wondered briefly how many times he'd lied to find out information on a monster.

'Sure thing. I really _am_ sorry about not getting you round the back.'

'It's no problem, really.' He said and Athaya noticed that Chelsea had moved to the other side of the bar to talk to Sam. Athaya resisted rolling her eyes and turned back to Dean.

'Great. I feel really bad about it.' It was true. They were trying to help out as well. She just couldn't risk a demon finding her. And more hunters meant more attraction.

'Well don't. Things have a way of sorting themselves out.' What Athaya didn't know was that by _'sorting themselves out,'_ Dean in fact meant _'breaking in once she left.'_

'Yeah…I guess so.' She looked down at her hands momentarily as she thought about Azazel and then felt a wave of concern come from Dean. She looked up to find him staring at her intently.

'I mean it,' he said slowly. 'It'll be okay.' Athaya got a feeling he wasn't talking about the case.

'Thanks.'

'What's bothering you?' he said quietly, 'If you don't mind me asking?'

'Oh…nothing. I'm just thinking about things.'

He grinned. 'What kind of things?' and Athaya was reminded of what Chelsea had said earlier.

'Not _those_ kind of things.' she said for the second time that night as she slapped him on the arm lightly. 'I'm busy.' His grin widened and he shrugged slightly.

'Hey, if you have somewhere to be, don't let me keep you.'

'No! No. It doesn't matter right now. I can do it later. It's nice to just…talk.' _Even if you are a hunter trying to steal my case._

He nodded. 'Well, good then.' He took a sip from a beer in front of him and then looked at her severely. 'Can I get you a drink?'

Athaya was about to refuse – she'd already had one beer – but then hesitated. 'Oh..kay. Sure.'

'What's your poison?' he asked as he got the bartender's attention.

'Just a beer for me, thanks.'

Dean addressed the bartender, 'Can I grab two more beers, please?' before turning to Sam and Chelsea. 'What about you two?'

Sam glanced at Chelsea next to him and nodded, 'Uh, yeah. The same for us too.'

'Great,' Dean said and turned back to Athaya. 'So…What changed your mind?'

Athaya jolted. 'I'm sorry? What do you mean?'

'You hesitated. You were going to say no. But then you changed your mind.'

Apparently Athaya wasn't the only person who was good at reading people. 'Ah, you caught me. I was considering going home…but then figured… 'What the hell? I'll treat myself.''

'I'm a treat?' Dean said with a grin and Athaya chuckled.

'No. The _beer's _a treat…' She squinted at him, resisting the urge to let the feeling take over. Sometimes she couldn't help it, but other times – like this – she had the power to control it. And whenever she had that power…Athaya never used it. 'I don't know what you are…' She said honestly.

'Oh? So I'm mysterious, is that it?' He grinned mischievously over his beer and Athaya laughed.

'Far from it. I'm just usually better at reading people.'

'Well then…what do you _think_ you know about me?'

Athaya had to watch herself. She couldn't give too much away. 'Well…Sam is your real brother.'

'Oh, really? How do you figure that?'

'No FBI agent wants to spend an entire day in one bar with his partner.'

Dean laughed. 'No? And what if we're just really good friends.'

'No…it's something more than that.'

'How do you know?' he asked, curious.

'I just do. Just like I know that you're hoping to go home with me tonight. But I can tell you right now: That's not gonna happen,' she grinned coyly.

Dean almost spat his beer out and coughed violently for a moment. 'What…what makes you say that?'

'You've been looking at me whenever I come out of the kitchen for the past two hours.'

'Oh. And here I thought I was being subtle.' He shook his head slowly. 'Why isn't it going to happen?'

'Because I've got some things to sort out.' She tapped her head. 'In here.'

'Ah. Now, I understand _that._ I thought maybe I wasn't charming enough for you.'

Now it was Athaya's turn to laugh. 'You're plenty charming. I think you're cute. I'm just not in the right headspace.'

He shrugged. 'You win some, you lose some. Doesn't mean I'll ease up on you, though.'

She grinned. 'I wouldn't have it any other way,' she said simply.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: ****Hiya guys! Sorry it's taken so long, but here's the next chapter. I'll try to upload the next one tomorrow :) Hope everyone's still enjoying!**

**xxx**

**~Fen~**

Chapter Five:

After a couple of hours, Sam had checked his emails again and murmured something to Dean. Evidently it was something to do with the case, because Dean sighed and informed Athaya that they had to leave.

'Sorry, Thaya, but we've gotta go. FBI business to attend to.'

Athaya smirked and nodded. 'Right. Hope everything goes well for you. I guess…I'll see you around?'

'Count on it,' he winked, gathering his things. Sam was laughing at something Chelsea said and she pouted slightly when he said he had to go, before smiling again.

'Well, that's okay! I guess I'll see you next time you come in?' she asked, only partially concealing the hope from her voice.

'Absolutely. It was really nice talking to you, Chelsea,' he nodded and grabbed his laptop before following his brother out the door. Athaya shook her head in wonderment as Chelsea bounced over to her and plonked herself down in the recently vacated seat where Dean had been.

'Soooo?' Chelsea asked, smiling at her friend.

'So what?' Athaya said, refusing to play along.

'So, did you like him?'

Athaya gave Chelsea a withering look and rolled her eyes. 'It doesn't matter if I liked him, Chels. I am otherwise preoccupied.'

'So preoccupied that you couldn't waster one little night with a guy like _him?_' She jerked her head towards the doors and Athaya sighed.

'Maybe I would. But not right now.' Athaya had a feeling something was about to start, and she didn't like it. 'It doesn't matter if I like him,' she repeated, almost to herself.

'Oh, really? So you're admitting that you liked him, then?'

'Well…yeah. I guess…' Athaya couldn't help but smile as Chelsea grinned like an idiot. Athaya sighed dramatically. 'Ugh. You're such a _goon.'_

'You bet your sweet ass I am. I keep you sane.'

'More like _in_sane,' Athaya mumbled under her breath.

'What was that?' Chelsea inquired suspiciously.

'Oh…nothing,' Athaya said innocently.

'Yeah right. And I'm Martha Stewart.' Chelsea smiled dreamily, 'But what did you think of Sam? He was so _nice!' _Athaya would never cease to be amazed by her friend's lightning quick, distracted train of thought.

'Yeah. He _is_ pretty gorgeous,' Athaya admitted.

'Hey,' Chelsea snapped. 'Hands off.'

Athaya held her hands up in surrender. 'Don't worry. I don't have any plans for either of them. And I get the feeling that they won't be in town very long.'

Chelsea didn't exactly _know_ about Athaya's 'feelings,' per se, but she knew to trust her friend when she thought something was going to happen. That's why Chelsea looked so crestfallen when Athaya said they would probably move on soon.

'Aw…but…They only just got here,' she frowned sadly.

'I know, crazy stalker girl,' Athaya grinned. 'But they'll probably move on sooner rather than later.' Athaya didn't mean to burst her friend's bubble, and so she tried to make up for it. 'But don't worry. I'm sure we'll see them again.'

'I really liked him, Thaya. He was actually…smart. He wanted to _talk_ to me. Not just gawk and judge me on face-value.'

Athaya grinned. So far – what she knew about Chelsea – was that she didn't 'like' guys. She fancied them. She went out on one-nighters with hunky blokes, and to hell with the consequences. For her to actually _like_ someone…it was quite a big deal.

'Really? You…Chelsea Marshal…_liked _someone?'

Chelsea rolled her eyes. 'Yes, smartass. I liked him. Now shut up about it.'

But now Athaya was interested. 'What could he have possibly done to make you like him?'

'Oh…nothing. He was just talking about his family…and I guess I could relate.'

'How so?' Athaya asked, intrigued.

'Oh…just both our parents had a set course for us. We were expected to do something that we didn't want…and we just…left.'

'You left your family?' Athaya didn't realise she'd met a fellow home-leaver. 'How old were you?'

'I was eighteen…so four years ago now.'

'Wow? Really? I didn't realise you'd left your parents too.'

'Too? As in you did as well?'

Athaya nodded slowly. 'Well…yeah. It was eight years ago for me. I was sixteen.'

'Jeez. That must have been tough. What did _your_ parents do?'

'Uh…Nothing.' Athaya smiled awkwardly as she attempted to broach the subject she often had so much trouble with. 'My little brother…he nearly died and it was my fault. And after that it just wasn't the same. I needed to get away.'

Chelsea looked at Athaya sadly and wrapped her in a tight hug. 'I'm sorry. I had nothing like that. I didn't mean to bring it up. The worst I had was my parents wanting me to be a doctor. I wanted to go off and do whatever took my fancy. So I did. But that's nothing compared to you. Sorry,' she looked dolefully at Athaya and she smiled.

'Oh, it's okay. I'm fine. Really. I'm just having one of those days, you know?'

'I know the feeling.' Chelsea glanced at her watch and grimaced. 'Ugh. It's nearly one…we should probably head home and get some sleep before coming back at six.'

'Yeah. That sounds like a good idea.' Athaya yawned and looked around for the first time in a few hours to notice that no one else was in the bar except Tony, the bartender. Athaya stared at her empty bottle tiredly and shook her head. 'You go on ahead. I'll see you tomorrow.'

'You sure?'

'Yeah. I just realised I forgot something in the kitchen. I'll see you bright and bushy-tailed, yeah?'

Chelsea leant over to give her another quick hug and then scooped her handbag off the counter. 'See you in a few hours.'

'Bye,' Athaya said, smiling and waving as Chelsea pushed the door open to disappear into the night.

She sighed and fiddled with her empty bottle, not wanting to get up, but wanting to go home all the same. She didn't know what to do, and for once, physically couldn't rely on her power to tell her what her course of action should be. The thing about drinking – that Athaya didn't mind all too much – was that it dulled her ability to use her powers to feel things. It was a relief, to be free of that burden. To get away from _knowing _things.

And that's why it was to Athaya's complete surprise when she heard a familiar voice emanate playfully from behind her: 'Hello, Princess.'

**AN:**** Oooooohhh! What's gonna happen next? Ten points to Gryffindor if you can guess who it is (lol, then I'd be handing away points like Dumbledore at the end of every book :P)**

**Stay tuned!**

**xxx**

**~Fen~**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:**** Thanks for all the lovely reviews. Please don't hesitate to point anything out to me (human error and all that jazz) or ask questions! Keep reading, and I hope you all enjoy! **

**xxx**

**~Fen~ **

Chapter Six:

Athaya spun around instantly…

And found nothing.

_Jesus, Athaya. _She mentally slammed her head against a wall as she realised he wasn't there. _You need to get some sleep. Hallucinating about the king of the crossroads is not a good thing._ She pinched the bridge of her nose as a headache began to form behind her eyes.

She'd really thought it was him. Athaya had thought her time had come. That Crowley had come back for her…to rescue her.

Apparently she still had some time left.

Athaya noticed that the hallucinations occurred when she was tired, or having a bad day. They were always of the same thing: Crowley. If she were to explain it pathologically, it was probably the combination of stress from her job, the unknown penalties of her powers and the fact that she'd spent eight solid years running from a demon. The alcohol probably hadn't helped.

Athaya groaned and grabbed her bag. It was high time she went home. She was too tired for this kind of crap. She nodded goodbye to Tony and pushed the door open, heading for her car.

She paused before getting in. She wasn't too drunk to drive…She'd only had a couple of beers. And the motel was just down the road. She probably could have walked, if she wanted. Athaya just didn't want to. Instead, she threw her bag in the back and started the engine, smiling as it growled to life. She pulled out of the driveway and out onto the main drag, keeping extremely alert as she went.

After a while though, her thoughts strayed back to what she'd told Chelsea. She'd told her best friend about her little brother. How it had been her fault. Athaya was surprised Chelsea didn't hate her forever, or at least think she was a monster. It had been a moment of weakness, and not one she was likely to repeat again.

Athaya frowned and switched the radio on, loud, hoping to drown out her thoughts.

And that's when Crowley appeared in the seat next to her.

'Princess. It wasn't your fault. I thought we'd discussed this.'

Athaya screamed at his words and swerved the car off the road into a ditch. She was thrown forwards and then snapped back as the seatbelt saved her from flying through the screen. She moaned and rolled her head to the side, feeling something trickle down her eyebrow. She yelled in frustration as she turned to find Crowley gone. Another hallucination.

Athaya groaned as she saw the car was stuck. God. She just needed to get some sleep. She needed to kill this spirit and then finally get the hell out of dodge.

She revved the motor until the car finally started inching out of the bog, and then almost screamed in defeat when it slid straight back in. Athaya leant her hands on the wheel of the car and couldn't help the sob that escaped her lips. She just wanted it to be over. All the fear – waiting for Azazel…waiting for Crowley. She could only handle so much.

It just needed to end.

* * *

Athaya sat there like that for about half an hour before she saw lights shine against the rear-view mirror, and into her face. She blinked her slightly puffy eyes up at the lights and frowned when they disappeared.

Athaya jumped when someone knocked on her door window and she wound it down to peer into the darkness.

'Hey. Are you having some car troub – Thaya?' Athaya instantly recognised Dean's voice and inwardly groaned. She didn't need him to see her like this.

'Thaya? What happened?' he asked, surprise in his voice.

She smiled weakly up at him as he opened the door and offered her a hand out. 'I…a bird flew in front of the window and I swerved…over here.'

He carefully assessed her, his hands on her shoulders as he looked at her worriedly. 'Are you alright?'

'I'm fine. Don't worry about me.' But even as she spoke, Dean brushed his hand against her forehead and when he pulled it away, it was red.

'You're bleeding,' he stated.

'I must have knocked my head on the window…' That's what had been trickling down her eyebrow.

'Does it hurt?' Dean asked and he glanced over Athaya once more, making sure there weren't any other injuries.

Athaya looked slightly frazzled, but otherwise unharmed aside from the cut on her forehead. 'A little…but I'm fine, really. I just need to know if my babe's alright,' she said anxiously and staggered around the front of the car to check for any damage. Luckily, the car had come to a stop in the ditch itself, and it hadn't done too much damage other than splattering the underside of the Mustang with mud.

Dean whistled. 'This is your car?'

Athaya smiled tiredly. 'That's right. She's my sweetheart.'

Dean grinned. 'She's pretty neat.'

She raised an eyebrow. 'Oh? You know something about cars?'

'I know a little,' he said – as if there was some inside joke she should know about. 'I know a beautiful car when I see one.' He nodded towards his own, on the side of the road. 'That's my Baby. She's a 67 Ch – '

'Chevrolet Impala,' Athaya finished. 'Yeah. She's pretty sweet herself. Where'd you get her?'

'Uh, my dad was a mechanic.' There was something guarded about the way he said that, but Athaya didn't push it. All people had secrets, especially hunters.

Athaya nodded in understanding and then stopped when she felt slightly dizzy. She reached out to put a hand on the Mustang to stable herself and Dean put a hand on her shoulder supportively.

'Hey…are you sure you're okay? You should probably go to a hospital. Get that checked out,' he nodded at her cut and she shook her head.

'It's just a scrape. I'll be fine as soon as I get my baby back on the road.' She turned to get back in her car when Dean stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

'Whoa. Hold on there, Thaya. I'm not letting you get behind the wheel.'

'What? Why not?'

'Because you've got a head injury and could be concussed. Not to mention your car isn't going anywhere for a while,' he said with a slight grimace.

'What do you mean?' Athaya asked nervously.

He squinted at her car momentarily before sighing. 'You're gonna need a tow, and unfortunately…I don't thing Baby will be able to help out here.'

Athaya frowned sadly. 'But…'

'I'll drop you off home,' Dean suggested. 'I'll quickly take a look at that cut and then I'll call a tow for your car. She'll be back before you wake up tomorrow morning,' he said with an encouraging grin. 'I promise.'

Athaya frowned slightly. He was being so nice, and she didn't see how else she was going to get back to the motel. 'You'd do that?'

'Of course. Anything to help a damsel in distress.'

She glared at him briefly, 'Oi. Watch it.'

'Sorry, Princess. I'll get you home, don't worry.'

His use of the word '_Princess'_ made Athaya pause. Her heart ached and she felt a chill travel down her spine. She'd only known Crowley for a day…but she missed him. He'd saved her. And she hadn't heard from him in eight years. He could be dead, for all she knew. He could have risen to power and faded away, just like everything in life eventually did.

Dean noticed Athaya's change in expression and watched her carefully as she wrapped her arms around her middle. 'Are you cold?' He asked, and she shook her head.

'No…just…remembering an old friend,' she said mournfully.

'I'm sorry.' Dean ran a hand over his face, 'Listen…Let me take you home, fix you up and get you some sleep. You look like you could do with the rest.'

Athaya smiled slightly. 'That would be great, thanks Dean. Or should I be calling you Agent Shatner?' She realised it would be weird if she kept calling him Dean when she was supposed to think he was an agent.

He smiled. 'Dean is fine. Come on, let's get you home.' She nodded and retrieved her bag before locking the door and walking over to the Impala. Dean opened the door for her and she slid into the leather seat smoothly. Almost as soon as she was in the car, she leant her head back and closed her eyes. She heard the growl of the Impala start, before it faded to a quiet purr as they pulled back out onto the main street.

'So where's your place?' Dean asked.

'Technically it's not my place…But I'm staying at the motel just down the road.'

Dean didn't look as surprised as Athaya thought he might. 'You're…not from around here, then, are you?'

Athaya frowned slightly. He should have been at least a little shocked. 'Where's Sam?' She asked suddenly, noticing the other brother's missing presence and wanting to change the subject.

'Oh, he's already back at Bobby's. We're crashing at his place while we're in town.'

'What? The FBI can't afford lodging?' Athaya teased and Dean smiled and rolled his eyes.

'Ha-ha. You're hilarious.'

'Thank you,' she said, dead serious. 'But you better not start on how you actually ended up coming home with me, you hear?' she said stoically, crossing her arms at him.

Now Dean really laughed as he pulled into the motel car park, cutting off the engine and turning to look at Athaya closely. After a minute of scrutiny, she couldn't stand it anymore and grimaced.

'What? What is it? Is there something on my face?' She asked, rubbing her cheeks.

'Aside from the blood? No, I was just trying to get a better look at the cut. It's still a bit dark though. I can't really tell how bad it is.'

Athaya tried to look at it in a mirror, but the reddish glow of the motel sign only went so far, and she didn't have much luck. 'Let's go inside,' she said. 'I think I have some bandages somewhere.' _Along with a small arsenal and enough medical supplies to last the apocalypse._

'Alright,' Dean got out of the car and opened the door for her, once again offering his arm. She took it, and tried to ignore how nice his hand felt on hers. When he pulled away, Athaya frowned and quickly pulled her keys out, wanting to get inside as fast as possible. She hastily tried to unlock the door and failed miserably, the headache and cut making her vision slightly blurry.

'Here, let me.' Dean reached over and grabbed the keys from her, his hand lingering on hers for a moment. Then he swiftly unlocked the door and held it open for Athaya. She darted in and immediately dumped her bag on the bed, making straight for the sink, where she kept her medical kit. She knelt down and found she overshot the action, tumbling to her knees. Dean rushed over and tilted her head towards the light.

'Whoa, Thaya. Let me see that cut.' He gazed intensely at her forehead and then tilted her chin until her eyes reflected the lights. 'Yeah…I think you've got a concussion.'

'How can you tell?' Athaya asked hazily, squinting up into his face.

'Because you having a concussion is the only thing that will get you to back off from this ghost hunt.'

Athaya wasn't dazed enough to miss his words_. _She froze. '_What_?'

Dean smiled slightly. 'You heard me, Thaya.' Not once did he stop examining Athaya's forehead, and instead, he continued scanning the rest of her body for injuries. 'I must say, you did have me fooled for quite a while.'

Athaya still didn't know what to say. _How did he find out?_

'Uh…How…I don't…' She tried to figure out an explanation, but came up blank.

'That's my little secret. Let's just say I had no idea hunters could be that inconspicuous. A waitress?' He nodded in approval, but his words were laced with hurt. 'You put on _quite_ a show.'

Athaya couldn't help but laugh. Maybe it was her concussion, maybe it was the shock, but either way, she spoke with bitterness in her own words. 'Well, I guess that's what happens when you've lived your entire life trying to hide from something…'

Dean paused, 'What?'

Athaya realised what she'd just said and shook her head. 'Uh…nothing. I think you might be right. I'm concussed.' Dean bent down to grab her arm and lift her up gently.

'Well…I think you're avoiding the question…but you _are_ concussed…I wasn't kidding. Hey. _Hey?_ Stay with me Thaya. Come on, don't pass out.'

He grabbed her other arm to stop her from falling as Athaya lurched slightly.

'Uh…I seem to remember…something about not falling asleep if you're concussed...' she said with a perplexed frown.

'You're not wrong, so stay with me, Thaya.' Dean shook her shoulders gently to keep her conscious, but she shook her head.

'I…think I might…' She struggled to form an intelligible sentence.

And then her vision went black.

**AN: ****Mwahahaha. Another cliffhanger (sorry) but at least I updated a bit faster than I have been! Hope everyone's enjoying it still, and I promise Crowley will be playing a larger part in chapters to come (this is kind of a saga about Athaya's life, so it can't all revolve around Crowley :P Although I wish it could, and I'm pretty sure that Crowley would think it ****_does_****. Haha! I felt like she would have met Sam and Dean during her life).**

**xxx**

**~Fen~**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:**** Hello my darlings! Here's the next chapter :) I hope everyone's still enjoying where this is going (I promise Crowley will come back into the story super-duper soon...ish - there's just a few things I have to establish first!) Thank you to everyone for the lovely reviews - they make my day! Have a pleasant read!**

**xxx**

**~Fen~**

Chapter Seven:

Athaya woke up slowly.

She squinted groggily at the patterned walls on either side of her, and it took her a moment to realise something.

She had no idea where she was.

'Ah!' She bolted upright and looked around, flinching as her fast head movements brought a headache forward from the recesses of her mind. She brought a hand to her head cautiously and felt something soft across her forehead. A bandage. She groaned as the memories of the night before came dribbling through her semi-concussed, sleep-addled brain.

_Hallucinating Crowley. The car. Her head. Dean._

_Dean._

'Dean?' she called out cautiously. She didn't know if she wanted him to be there. She seemed to remember something of import occurring, but couldn't quite remember what, exactly. Athaya glanced around at her surroundings, taking in the strewn books, bottles, odds and ends that were scattered about the room. She was lying on a soft couch, a blanket tucked around her. Across from her was a large desk, more books lying open and scribbled upon. She sat up properly, sliding her legs off the sofa and shivered. How the hell had she gotten there?

No one had answered her call and Athaya grimaced as she felt her previous headache burst forth with increased enthusiasm.

_Holy crap. How much did I drink last night?_

Then she reasoned it was probably a combination of drinking and a concussion. Athaya felt slightly worried for the first time in a while, because once again her powers were cut off. The headache was doing a brilliant job of restraining any contact Athaya might have had with her 'feelings' and as a result, she had no idea what was going on.

She got up, letting the blanket slip silently from her shoulders, and grabbed the nearest thing she could find as a weapon – a lamp. She clutched it to her chest, her hands tightening at every tiny sound. A creak upstairs, a bird call outside, the wind blowing against the trees.

Quietly, Athaya crept to one of the doorways of the room, noting that there was more than one. She stuck her head around a corner cautiously and let go of her held breath in relief as she saw the front door. She crept towards it and froze when she heard footsteps. She quickly ducked back behind the doorway and waited, raising the lamp defensively. Athaya held her breath once more as the footsteps got closer and she jumped out, swinging the lamp through the air until it came into contact with something with a loud _crunch_.

'Son of a bitch!' She heard the person – a man – say.

_Wait_. That voice…

'_Dean?' _Athaya exclaimed and stopped, dropping the lamp quickly to look – _really_ look at the person who was around the corner. She gasped as she saw Dean clutching his nose, blood flowing steadily from under his hand.

'Oh my god! Dean, I'm so sorry!' She rushed over to him and hovered, her hands flapping slightly – wanting to help, but not knowing how.

'Jesus, Thaya. I think you broke my nose,' he said reaching for a tissue to stem the blood. Athaya jumped to it before him and grabbed one, passing it to him wordlessly as she watched with wide eyes.

'I am _so_ sorry, Dean. I had no idea it was you.' She exclaimed after a moment of silence.

'Who else was it gonna be?' he asked, wincing as he dabbed at his nose.

She shook her head helplessly. 'I dunno…a kidnapper? A serial killer? The Boogeyman?'

'What, not a vampire, werewolf or ghost?' he asked accusingly, walking past her to throw himself down onto the couch with a _thud_.

Athaya winced as she finally remembered their last conversation. He knew she was a hunter.

She tried to explain herself. 'Oh…about that…look, I – '

He held up a hand to silence her, 'Listen, Thaya, I don't know why you lied, but I'm sure you had good reason. Your reasons are _your_ reasons. All I did was bring a fellow hunter here so we could patch her up.' Even with Athaya's powers out of commission, she could tell from his voice that he was angry.

'We?' Athaya asked cautiously, trying to change the subject as she leant against the large desk, folding her arms.

'Bobby, Sam and my good self,' he said, still frowning.

'We're at Bobby's house?' Athaya asked, bewildered, as she remembered their earlier conversation. That's where Sam and Dean were staying. 'So…Wait. No.' She shook her head slightly and paused before speaking. 'Bobby's not…a _hunter_, is he?'

'Give the girl a prize,' Dean smirked tightly, the blood taking a minor detour around his lips and down his chin as his face moved.

Athaya blanched. 'What?!' she gasped. 'No. Then…_he's_ the one who told you.' Bobby would have recognised a fake ID in seconds. Athaya cursed her stupidity at showing him hers.

'You're on a roll Thaya, I've gotta say.' He raised an eyebrow and Athaya had to resist the urge to smack his smug face. The only thing that stopped her was that she'd already broken his nose.

'It's _A_thaya, actually. Thaya's just a nickname,' she grumbled. For some reason, ever since using the nickname _Thaya_ as her cover, she'd grown less fond of it.

'Well there's no missing vowels in my name. Just plain Dean.' He said briskly and then turned his attention to his nose, trying to wipe the blood away without a mirror.

Athaya softened and walked over to kneel by the sofa. 'Here, let me.' She grabbed another tissue and gently dabbed at the blood trails down his face, stopping whenever Dean winced.

'Dean, I'm so sorry I broke your nose. It was an accident.' She said quietly as she attempted to help.

'It's really fine, Thay – ' he corrected himself'_A_thaya. Besides, I've had worse.' He shrugged slightly.

'I'm sure you have,' Athaya said honestly. 'That doesn't stop it from hurting, though, does it?' she said with a light smile.

'You're not wrong.' He squinted at her momentarily. 'I just don't get it though. Why didn't you tell us you were a hunter from the beginning?' There was no anger in his voice now, just curiosity.

'Oh…I just…I didn't want to draw attention to myself.' Athaya panicked. What if he found out about the deal? She quickly thought of something to tell him to throw him off the scent. 'No offense, but hunters aren't exactly quiet folk. I just wanted to kill the spirit without starting any fires…Even though killing it probably _will_ involve starting a fire, but I just meant a metaphorical fire, in the sense that I didn't want to let people know I was here…' Athaya was incredibly aware that she was spiralling, saying whatever came to mind first. 'Because that would be bad and I might alert the human world to the supernatural one…Which would be really, _really_ bad and…' As Athaya had tried to explain herself, she'd gotten faster and faster, her American accent slipping away until her original roots showed. She winced at her own accent as she spoke, knowing that Dean would notice something wasn't quite right. 'If you know what I mean...?' she tried to amend.

Dean was silent. He stared at her uncertainly and then pulled back slightly. 'Who are you?' He asked, frowning in distrust.

'Who…who am I?' She stuttered, surprised by his question. 'I'm Athaya Lowry.' That was the fake name Crowley had given her when she was sixteen, and that's what she'd gone by whenever she had to go undercover.

'Hey, _Athaya_…Did I mention I'm pretty good at telling when people are lying?' Dean asked, crossing his arms.

'No. You didn't. Did I ask if you had a medical kit?' She changed the subject swiftly. 'Because then I can fix your nose up properly.' Athaya wasn't intimidated by Dean's manner, just the fact that he was a little too close to finding out who she really was. He'd kill her for sure if he knew that she had demon blood in her.

'It's in the kitchen, under the sink…' He tilted his head in confusion. 'But that's not what I – '

Athaya cut across Dean before he could finish his sentence. 'I feel really bad. Let me do _this_, at least.' By now, her American accent was back, and she stood up to turn away, hiding her flushed cheeks.

Athaya strode out of the room and found the kitchen easily, moving before Dean could protest. She ducked to inside and took a deep breath. _Breathe. He doesn't know. Not yet, anyway._ She clenched her eyes shut and pressed her back up against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting on the floor.

_Stupid, stupid, STUPID!_

Dean was going to kill her if he found out about her deal, not to mention her powers. She had to get a grip and control what she said. She couldn't blurt everything out again, just because he seemed like a decent guy. Athaya closed her eyes and let everything go, trying to regain her composure. After a minute, she stood back up and went over to the sink, pulling a battered first aid kit out from underneath.

She walked back into the study, the first aid box in her hands, and sat down on the couch next to Dean, opening the kit and spreading the medical supplies out. He looked at her, still suspicious, but allowed Athaya to gently take his chin and tilt it towards her.

'So…' Athaya began as she dabbed the last of the blood away with a damp cloth, 'Who fixed my head up?' She gestured to the white cloth around her forehead. 'You?'

'Yeah,' he admitted. 'It wasn't too deep, and didn't need stitches so I just disinfected it and wrapped it up.'

'Thanks,' Athaya tilted her head to the side and nodded. 'It doesn't look crooked, so that's a plus,' she said, referring to his nose.

'Why is that a plus?' Dean asked, smiling slightly.

'Because that means you won't have a crooked nose on your pretty face once it's healed.' Athaya smirked.

'Pretty?' Dean scoffed. 'I prefer ruggedly handsome, suave hunter extraordinaire.'

Athaya rolled her eyes. 'And just how long have you been waiting to use that description?'

'I'd be lying if I said not very long,' Dean grinned and then winced as the skin around his nose pulled tight. 'Look…what I said before, I didn't mean to accuse you. I get that you have your reasons. I'm sorry I asked.'

Athaya looked at him sadly. He was willing to forgive her for lying so easily, but on the same page, he wouldn't hesitate to end her existence if he found out what she really was.

One of Azazel's children.

**AN:**** Naw, poor Athaya :'( But things have a way of turning out alright in the end. Teehee!**

**xxx**

**~Fen~**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:**** Hi guys! Sorry it's taken me so long, it's been slightly full-on lately, but here's a super long chapter for you! Hope everyone is still enjoying and I promise Crowley will be back super super soon. I can actually confirm this now :)**

**xxx**

**~Fen~**

Chapter Eight:

Athaya fixed Dean's nose, a small bit of white tape keeping his cartilage in place. Before the hour was up, he had two impressive black eyes.

'Hey, Dean?' Athaya asked as she packed the medical kit away.

'Yeah?' He was looking straight at her and Athaya had to stop herself from blushing.

'You know you look like a panda, right?' Athaya laughed at Dean's horrified look as he walked over to a mirror to inspect the damage.

'Holy crap. I'm a freaking panda.' He pulled at the skin under his eyes. 'You sure know how to swing a…' He turned to look at her. 'What did you even hit me with, actually?'

Athaya looked at the abandoned lamp lying on the floor. 'Oh…the lamp,' she pointed at it and coughed awkwardly. 'It was the first thing I could grab.'

'You really thought you'd been kidnapped?'

'I _was_ kidnapped, Dean. By _you._' Athaya pointed out.

He shrugged, 'Yeah, but that wasn't really kidnapping, now, was it? That was me making sure you didn't suffer brain damage.'

Athaya put her hands on her hips. 'Right. Does the phrase free will mean anything to you?'

Another shrug. 'I'm a hunter. Free will hasn't existed for me for years,' Dean said simply.

Athaya frowned. 'What do you mean?'

'I mean…this life isn't really a choice. No one goes: "_Oh look. Monsters exist. I think I'll go kill them." _It's not exactly an ideal lifestyle…More a responsibility. Nobody _wants_ to hunt.' Dean said with a slightly haunted look.

Athaya plastered a smile on her face. She _had _chosen the life. Basically, Dean had summed up what she'd done in one belittling sentence. "_I think I'll go kill them"_ hadn't been exactly what she'd thought, but it was close enough.

'Yeah…nobody wants to…' she said weakly. Dean didn't notice, thankfully. 'So…' she continued. 'What time is it?'

Dean glanced up at a clock in the kitchen and pointed to it, 'Seven-thirty. Why?'

Athaya froze. 'What? Oh my god, I am so late for work!'

'How late?' He asked.

'Try twelve hours!' Athaya exclaimed as she spied her bag lying on the desk. She ran over to it and pulled out her phone to see she had fourteen missed calls from Chelsea. Her phone had been on silent. '_Crap.'_ Athaya said as she fumbled to call her friend. Chelsea would be worried sick.

'Hold on, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Thaya.' Dean grabbed her hand and looked at her steadily. 'It's okay. Just say you were sick and your phone was on silent. It's more or less the truth.'

Athaya shook her head slowly. 'I need this job. Being sick won't excuse me from – '

'Athaya. It's okay. Trust me. Give your friend a call, and everything will sort itself out.' For some reason, Athaya believed him and let out a shaky breath. She couldn't risk stuffing this up. If she failed this job…someone else would die. She scrolled down until she found Chelsea's number and let it ring, bringing it to her ear.

Chelsea answered after the first ring. _'Christ, girl! Where the hell are you?'_

Athaya took a deep breath. 'Nice to hear from you too,' she tried.

_'Oh, no you don't. You don't get to say that to me. I've been worried sick! Where were you?' _The other girl demanded and Athaya winced at Chelsea's tone.

'I…wasn't feeling very well.'

_'Wasn't feeling very well? That's the excuse you give me? I had to cover for you! For the entire day! I've been calling you for hours.'_ Athaya heard the hurt in her friend's voice and she shook her head, despite the fact that Chelsea couldn't see her.

'It's not like that. I was really sick. Like, I got home and passed out for fourteen hours. I only just looked at my phone.' It was more or less the truth, actually. 'I'm sorry you were worried, Chels. Can you forgive me?'

There was a short pause. _'Alright…as long as you promise to come back tomorrow.'_

'I can come back in today, listen, I – ' Athaya started, but was cut off.

'_Dude. I don't want to see you if you've had the plague. Keep your horrible germs to yourself, please,' _Chelsea teased. _'Stay home and recover. I can pop around later, if you want, though. See how you're doing?_'

Athaya thought about it for a moment. 'Uh…maybe not…' she said, glancing at Dean, who was staring at her attentively. 'I'm still pretty gross.' She even added a fake cough to reinforce her argument.

'_Oh, ew. God, Thaya. Go get some rest. I'm just expecting to see you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow, okay?_'

'Sounds great! Are we good?'

_ 'We're good,'_ Chelsea said, a smile in her voice. _'Just try and call me next time, okay?'_

'Absolutely. Oh, and Chels?'

_ 'Yeah…?'_ her friend said suspiciously.

'Just…be careful.' Athaya knew that Chelsea could take care of herself, and that Charlotte wouldn't strike until the next Tuesday, but Athaya still wanted to look out for her, even if she wasn't there herself.

_'Uh, okay, Miss Paranoid.' _Athaya could hear Chelsea laughing slightly. '_Take care of yourself though, too.' _

'Will do. Bye.'

_'Bye!'_

Athaya hung up the phone and let out a sigh of frustration. If only her stupid headache would go away – she could feel if something bad was going to happen.

Dean mistook her sigh for worry. 'Hey, she'll be fine. She'd scare away any ghost with her bright and bubbly personality in seconds.'

'Hah. Thanks. Why do I find that strangely _not_ reassuring?' Athaya asked and clutched the phone in her hands. She hated being cut off from her power, even if she loathed the power itself a little.

Dean walked over to her and touched her arm. 'It _will_ be fine,' he said quietly. He put a hand on her cheek and Athaya stopped fiddling with her phone, instead glancing up at Dean's face. He was staring directly into her eyes, and she realised after a moment that she was looking straight into his bright green ones. Despite the rings of purple that shadowed them, they were still beautiful. He was also still holding onto her hand, and Athaya realised that her mouth was opened slightly as she was caught in his gaze – like a deer in headlights.

'I…uh. You think…?' She started pulling her hand out of his, but stopped when she felt his hand tighten around hers.

'I think everything will be okay,' he said. Dean leant down towards her slightly, even though they were already only inches apart and Athaya's eyes widened as she realised he was going to kiss her.

She knew she shouldn't. Athaya wasn't good in relationships. Being destined to die and go to hell would do that. She _was_ going to die, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. She couldn't stand causing people any pain when she died, that's why she only professed to know a few people. However, when she felt Dean's hand slip around her back, she didn't resist when he pulled her towards him slightly.

And then the front door opened.

Dean and Athaya sprang apart as a familiar voice called out, 'Dean? How's the girl?' and Athaya recognised it as Bobby's as the cap-clad man walked into the room. She was glad they'd come in at that moment. She wouldn't have stopped Dean from kissing her.

'_Morning_, Sleeping Beauty,' Bobby said with a grin as he dumped a heavy bag on the table.

'Hi _Bobby_,' Athaya said, making no attempt to hide the accusation in her voice, folding her arms over her chest and ignoring the look that Dean sent her; one of confusion.

The older man chuckled, 'And what did I do to deserve _that_ tone, pray tell?' he said as he began pulling various items out of the bag. A small box, a jar of…something, another box and a knife.

'You may have enlightened two certain hunters to the fact that I am also a hunter, when that particular bit of information wasn't yours to disclose.' Athaya said and looked at Bobby pointedly just as Sam walked in the door, carrying another bag.

'Hey Thaya,' Sam grinned and Athaya glanced at him momentarily to smile.

'Hi Sam,' she said before turning her wrath back on Bobby. 'You knew _I_ was a hunter and didn't say anything. _You're _a hunter and you didn't say anything. You knew _they_ were hunters,' she gestured to the two brothers, who both looked like they were about to restrain Athaya, 'and you didn't say anything. Bobby Singer, what do you have to say for yourself?' Athaya demanded and raised an eyebrow expectantly. Dean took a hesitant step forward and Sam started to move around the other side of the room, ready to detain Athaya should she fling herself at Bobby.

Bobby looked rather taken aback, and blinked rapidly for a few moments before both he and Athaya burst out laughing.

'You…you sure know how to put on a show, girl,' he said in between bursts of laughter.

Sam and Dean looked extremely confused and they shared a look before Athaya pointed at the two of them. 'You…should have seen…your faces,' she gasped, struggling for breath.

Dean realised that it had all been in jest and laughed. 'You looked like you were going to kill him!' He said and Sam shook his head worriedly.

'Nah,' Athaya said, smiling. 'I get why he told you,' she shrugged. 'I would have too…although I _am_ surprised that you're a hunter, Bobby. I didn't see that coming.'

'You don't think an old man like me can't handle monsters under the bed?' he asked incredulously.

'On the contrary, I think you're more than able,' Athaya said confidently.

'Dean and I can both vouch for that,' Sam said as he sat down on the couch and started sorting through his own bag, pulling out several shotguns, knives and various weapons. After a moment, he glanced up at Dean and started. 'Dude. What happened to your face?' Sam asked, noticing Dean's nose for the first time since walking in.

Dean's gaze slid to Athaya, who had suddenly become very interested in a book she'd found lying on a table. 'Oh, nothing. I slipped and fell,' he said after a moment.

'And broke your nose?' Sam scoffed and Bobby laughed.

'Christ, boy. When did you become such a klutz?' Bobby asked, sitting down at his desk.

'Since now. Just forget it. I broke my nose, alright? Let's leave it at that.' Dean held his hands up in exasperation and Sam grinned.

'Well there goes your modelling career,' Bobby said.

'I wouldn't say that,' Athaya began. 'I did a pretty good job of making him pretty again.'

Dean glared at her. 'Again with the pretty comment?'

She shrugged, 'What can I say? I speak the truth.' Athaya grinned as Dean's glare intensified.

Sam laughed loudly and Dean rolled his eyes.

'So…' Sam began. 'Thaya, how have yo – '

'Athaya,' Dean interrupted. 'Her name's Athaya.' He lost the glare and shot Athaya a small grin. She wanted to return it, she really did…but she couldn't. She had to stop whatever this thing was in its tracks. She wasn't good for people.

So instead Athaya remained stone-faced and tried to ignore the fleeting look of confusion that passed over Dean's face. '_So_…?' Athaya began, trying to coax the rest of Sam's question from him.

'So, Athaya, how long have you been a hunter?' he asked.

'Since I was sixteen. Or thereabouts,' Athaya said, leaning against a cupboard.

'That's pretty young,' Sam said, impressed.

'Well, how old were _you_?' She inquired.

'We were kinda raised in it,' Sam said, sending a knowing look at Dean.

'The family business and all that,' Dean said.

'Wow. That must have been…terrifying,' Athaya said quietly.

'Why would you say that?' Dean asked, curious.

Athaya got up and walked over to look at the items spread out over the desk. 'It's just…you guys would have known the truth when you were – what? – _eight_?' She said, not looking up. 'That would have been horrible, knowing that the monsters under the bed were real. At least I had a few years extra of ignorant bliss. You were thrown right in the deep end.' Athaya sorted through the pile of things, opening the small box to find a heavy metal ring, and then the second larger box to find it filled various personal belongings.

'Yeah, well our dad was a hunter, and he wanted us to be able to protect ourselves, which – as it turned out – was the best thing he could possibly have given us; knowledge and training.' Dean said, almost proudly.

'Not to mention treating us like we were warriors from when we were five…' Sam said quietly, Athaya only hearing it. She sent him a glance of sympathy and found herself looking at a very sad man. Who knew what had happened to him because of the path his father had chosen?

'But you're helping people,' Athaya tried to encourage. 'You guys are making a difference, and despite whatever shit went on in your family – don't look at me like that, Dean, I can tell, trust me – you're still destroying evil and saving lives.' Athaya wasn't lying. She could tell their family had its troubles. Her headache was slowly fading, and with every minute that passed, her awareness of feeling increased.

'Every family has its problems,' Dean grumbled and Athaya smiled slightly.

'Trust me, I know _all_ about family problems,' she said. 'I just don't let it get in the way of doing a job.'

'Have I ever mentioned that I like you, Thaya?' Bobby grinned, speaking for the first time since Athaya had approached the subject of family.

She laughed. 'You may have done. But what's all this?' she gestured to the items on the table curiously.

'Those,' Bobby said, 'are the belongings of one Thomas Blakely.'

Athaya frowned. 'Thomas Blakely?'

Sam nodded and picked up a piece of newspaper clipping from the desktop. He cleared his throat. 'Thomas Blakely,' he read. 'Born in Sioux Falls in 1886, Thomas was the owner of the _Happy Horseman Inn – _stop laughing, Dean – which was just a cover for the 'Inn's' true nature. It was a brothel, and he was the organiser of all the…' Sam coughed slightly. '…_things_ that went on.' He paused to frown at Dean. 'So help me Dean, I will kill you unless you stop laughing and start being mature.' Sam glared at his older brother, who was having a hard time not grinning at Sam's awkwardness.

'Aw. Isn't he precious?' Dean chuckled as Sam glared at him.

'Shut up. Anyway,' Sam shook his head and focused on the task at hand. 'Anyway, Thomas was the head honcho there and apparently this girl – Charlotte – was murdered. He went mad trying to figure out who killed her…apparently she'd been one of his favourites.'

Athaya interrupted Sam. 'Wait…I don't get it. If Charlotte's the one who was murdered, then why do you have _Thomas's _stuff here?'

Sam continued on, raising a finger for her to wait. 'Yeah, I'm getting to that. See, it was a few years later – seven, to be exact – that the police eventually found out that Thomas wasn't looking for the killer at all. He _was_ the killer, and he'd gone mad with guilt.'

Athaya shook her head. 'No. That's no right…' she said quietly to herself. Charlotte had been murdered by another girl. That's why _girls_ kept on dying. 'But then why do girls keep on dying? Wouldn't Charlotte go after people similar to her killer? I thought she was killed by a fellow prostitute. Why is killing girls if her boss killed her?'

'It's not the ghost of Charlotte,' Bobby said with a frown. 'We're hunting Thomas Blakely.'

**AN:**** Ahhhh...*hides head in shame* I'm sorry about the Dean/Athaya bit, but that's just where the story went! Please don't hate me, and I'm sure everything will figure itself out :P haha!**

**xxx**

**~Fen~**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN:**** Hi everyone! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, it makes my day! And guess what, guess what, guess what?!**

**You'll just have to read and see! *mwahaha***

**Hope you're all still enjoying the story, it's been so hard to write the past few chapters - can I just say right now. I love you all!**

**xxx**

**~Fen~**

**Chapter Nine:**

That night, Athaya stayed at Bobby's place, taking the couch downstairs while the guys slept upstairs. Dean had promised to drive her back to her motel the next morning before work so she could make herself presentable.

The plus of having a concussion was that Athaya got to sleep almost an entire night through – after having woken up in the early evening to break Dean's nose, she found she was quite exhausted and back on the sofa, rugged up in under three hours.

She was tucked under a blanket, pulled far above her head to block out the light. As she dozed, she could hear the boys talking quietly, so as not to wake her, but Athaya didn't mind. It was almost soothing after being alone for so long. It felt like she had a family, almost.

'…So we'll go in tomorrow and try to gank this thing?' Athaya half-heard Dean ask quietly as she started to drift off.

'That's the idea,' Bobby said gruffly.

Dean sighed. 'Let's make sure this thing is dead by Tuesday.'

'Why Tuesday?' Sam asked.

'That's when Athaya said it would kill again,' Dean remarked. 'Always on the 5th of April.'

'Well, that makes sense. That's when Charlotte died. Thomas must be playing out Charlotte's death every seven years.' Sam observed.

'Why every seven?' Dean asked, and Athaya heard something scrape against the floor. _A chair, probably,_ she thought as someone sat down.

'Hmm. This is just a guess…but maybe it's because they took seven years to find out it was Blakely who'd murdered the girl,' Bobby mused.

'…makes sense,' Athaya heard Sam agree.

'Well, let's just hope we get the son of a bitch,' were the last words Athaya heard from Dean as she drifted off to sleep.

Athaya was dreaming…But she didn't know that.

It was one of those dreams, where despite the surreal and impossible things that happen, the experience feels absolutely genuine. Athaya thought she was awake.

_She saw Chelsea, standing at the bar, packing up the last of the aftermath from that day's crowd. It seemed like a normal evening to Athaya, aside from one thing…_

_ She couldn't talk._

_ Whenever Athaya attempted to communicate with her friend, she found no words came out, and it grew to frustrate her increasingly as Athaya followed Chelsea as the waitress finished up for the day, trying to gain her attention, but failing every time. _

_ 'Chelsea!' Athaya tried, waving her arms about slightly but letting them fall to her side as her younger co-worker continued going about her business in complete ignorance._

_ 'Come on, Chels. Why can't you hear me?' _

_ Nothing._

_ Athaya grimaced as she felt yet another headache spark in the back of her skull and glanced up at the clock. It was late, and Chelsea was the last person left, taking a tray of empty glasses to the kitchen to wash up. She was listening to music – humming, swaying her hips slightly and so didn't hear when a glass knocked over._

_ By itself._

_ 'Whoa. Chels? Did you see that?' Athaya exclaimed. 'Chelsea please tell me you can hear me now!' Athaya tried as another glass fell over, just out of Chelsea's eyesight. Athaya tried tapping her friend on the shoulder, but found her hand went straight through._

_ 'Ah! What the hell?' Athaya gasped and saw one of the glasses roll from where it had fallen on the bench to smash on the floor. That finally gained Chelsea's attention._

_ 'Oh. Whoops,' Chelsea remarked and bent down to clear up the glass. Athaya was about to try once more to speak to Chelsea, but something caught the corner of her eye._

_ Something moved past a window. _

_ All Athaya saw was a dark figure, and she couldn't make out the rest of it as it moved beyond the reflective surface._

_ Athaya redoubled her efforts to get Chelsea's attention, but she still couldn't hear her. Chelsea had discovered by now that she needed a dustpan to collect all the glass shards and went to look for one in the cupboard. The girl groaned when she couldn't find one, and instead walked to the back of the bar and past many of the storage rooms until she came to a specific one. _

_ Chelsea ducked inside and started sorting through a box. _

_ 'I knew I saw one here the other day…' Chelsea said to herself quietly._

_ The room they were in looked like an old office, a large wooden desk in the centre of the room and bookshelves lining the walls. Above the desk was a large, old portrait of a man. A silver ring was on his thumb and a stern expression graced his handsome face. Boxes were strewn about the floor, like many of the other rooms, and it wasn't until a few minutes later that Chelsea found what she was looking for._

_ The girl held a small dustpan aloft triumphantly, and stood up._

_ That was when Athaya saw the figure again._

_ She felt a stabbing pain in her skull as her headache morphed into something else entirely and yelled as it brought her to her knees._

_ She knew who it was now, and screamed at her friend to watch out, that there was someone – some_thing_ – behind her. But Athaya couldn't. She was in too much pain._

_ And so from the ground, it was in the reflection of a portrait hanging above the desk that Athaya could see Thomas Blakely standing behind Chelsea, a knife aimed directly for her heart._

Athaya woke with a gasp.

She tumbled off the bed and rolled onto her knees, clutching her head as the pain in her head intensified, like a thousand needles being driven into it slowly. Athaya struggled to her feet and lurched towards the bathroom, crashing into the desk on the way and hitting her hip. She yelped as the dream came back to her, only…it wasn't a dream anymore.

Athaya could see it all unfolding in her head, Blakely standing behind Chelsea and lifting the dagger towards her heart, smiling cruelly before plunging the blade deep within her back. The dream wasn't stopping. It kept on going, even though Athaya was awake now.

'No!' Athaya whispered dryly and she saw her friend scream and fall to her knees. But it was almost as if whatever was happening to Chelsea in Athaya's mind was also happening to Athaya in the present. She shrieked as an invisible blade pierced her own chest, drawing no blood, but making her yell nonetheless. Athaya made it to the bathroom just as she collapsed, her hands flying out to grab the sink to stop her fall.

Athaya whimpered and tried to pull herself up, but the pain was too great, forcing her back to her knees. She gasped and tried to breathe, but found there was nothing for her to inhale. It was like her lungs had forgotten how to breathe. Athaya's hands slipped from the sink and she fell to the ground silently, lacking the breath to scream. She briefly noticed the blood that was dripping on the ground by her face and noted what a pretty red colour it was before losing rational thought altogether.

It was then that she felt hands smoothly guide her to the sink, lifting her gently until she could stare into the mirror to see the blood dripping from her nose and ears, leaving a ghastly trail down her neck.

'Come on, Princess, let's fix you up.' Crowley said as he held her up, worry in his eyes.

**AN:**** Guess what?**

**Crowley's back...in black! ) *ACDC moment* :D**

**Hope you all enjoyed! **

**xxx**

**~Fen~**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN:**** Hola everybody! Hope you're all still interested, I had quite a bit of fun writing that chapter - and I hope you all enjoy it too! Thanks for all the lovely reviews, and please do continue leaving them!**

**xxx**

**~Fen~**

**Chapter Ten:**

'Crow…Crowley?' Athaya croaked and used up the last of her oxygen. It felt like she was drowning and choking on a vacuum at the same time, wet and dry, but neither. Her vision was going black, but she'd still seen enough in the reflection of the mirror to know it was him. The dark haired, black suited, demon king of the crossroads: Crowley.

'Hush,' he said quietly and Athaya became vaguely aware that she could hear him speaking fluently in another language as his hand lay flat on her back.

Almost instantly, Athaya felt her airways clear and she gasped, sucking in a lungful of oxygen. Crowley released her and she fell to the floor, rolling onto her side and drawing her hands to her chest as she shuddered.

'You're lucky I've been keeping an eye on you, Princess,' Crowley said quietly and assessed her shaking form grimly on the ground.

'What…just happened?' Athaya choked out, reaching up to grab the sink. Crowley helped her into sitting position before going silent for a moment.

Crowley's expression was dark when he eventually spoke. 'Forget about that. Right now, we need to get you fixed.'

'What do you mean? I though you just did– '

'I provided a temporary solution to a _very_ permanent problem.' Crowley said bitterly and Athaya frowned.

'I don't –?' Athaya tried, but was attacked by a bought of dizziness. 'I don't understand,' she whispered, terrified.

Crowley's face softened. 'Athaya…I'm sorry…but I rather suspect you had a premonition. What did you see?'

'I…_what?_ A premonition?' Athaya's face morphed in horror. 'No! That can't be. It _can't._'

'What did you see?' he urged again.

'It can't be true…' Athaya felt a tear slip down her cheek. 'I saw my friend die. _No_. I won't let it happen!' Athaya found her spirit returning and her voice grew in volume as she remembered the blood spurting from her friend's back as she was stabbed by Blakely.

'Keep it down. We don't want the whole house to know you're talking to a demon,' Crowley advised.

'Oh, god,' Athaya sighed. 'This is it. Isn't it?' She stared up at Crowley sadly.

'This is what, Princess?' he asked, trying to play innocent. Almost as if he didn't want her to worry. Well too bad. She was worried.

'Don't, Crowley. Just don't. You know what I mean. This is my powers specialising. Perfecting. Developing. Whatever you want to call it. Azazel knows, doesn't he?'

Crowley thought about his next words very carefully. 'I'm not sure…if he _knows_. He might have felt something. Or he might be relying on a spy. Whatever the case, it only just happened. You're safe.'

'For now,' Athaya said bitterly and rested her clammy forehead against the cold of the ceramic sink. 'I'm safe for now.'

'You'll stay safe for as long as I can keep you safe, Princess. I made a promise, and I have a habit of keeping promises, in case you hadn't noticed.'

'I had, actually,' Athaya smiled weakly up at him and brought a shaking hand to her face to swipe away some of the blood.

'Here. This might be more effective.' Crowley handed her a black silk handkerchief and she resisted the urge to smile. Of course it was black silk. She accepted the cloth and pulled herself up into standing position. She grimaced as she saw the blood dripping down her neck from her nose and ears.

'Ow. That wasn't a very pleasant experience,' she grumbled as she wet the handkerchief and started dabbing at the trails of red along her face. Crowley watched her quietly, looking thoughtful as Athaya wiped away the blood. 'What're you thinking?' Athaya ventured after a minute of complete silence.

'Oh…evil things,' Crowley said with a wicked grin.

'I'm sure,' Athaya smiled and finished cleaning her face. She put it down on the sink and turned to Crowley. 'So…is this going to happen whenever I fall asleep?' Athaya asked, referring to her dream.

'That depends. You weren't asleep for all of it, were you? You woke up and the dream continued.' Crowley said, leaning against the door and folding his arms.

'Well…yeah. It did,' Athaya said, recalling how she'd woken up, but the dream had gone on. 'Great. Does that mean it could happen at any moment? It might just…happen again?'

'Entirely probable, Princess. But we'll figure out more of those details later. For now, you just need to recover.'

'Oh. Alright.' Athaya bent over the sink momentarily as her headache reappeared, hammering against the inside of her skull. 'Eugh,' she groaned.

'What's wrong?' Crowley inquired.

'What's wrong is that I've got the _hangover_, but all the memories from the night before are _still_ _here_,' Athaya growled, willing the headache to go away. She didn't get very far.

'Ah,' Crowley nodded. 'Nasty headache?'

'You could say that. I _was_ bleeding from my nose and ears.'

'That you were,' he smirked. 'How are you feeling now, by the way?'

'Pretty crappy,' Athaya sighed and closed her eyes momentarily. She tried to forget that she'd just seen her friend die. That she'd had a…a premonition. She tried to focus one good thing. One good thing out of all of this.

Athaya suddenly turned and buried her head in Crowley's shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck. Crowley stumbled away from the wall in surprise and Athaya murmured. 'I'm glad you're alive,' into his shoulder.

Crowley laughed and hesitantly slid his arms around her back, 'Me too, Princess.' It was more of a question than an agreement. However he hugged her back, although to Athaya it felt strained, as if he didn't know how. 'Hold on,' he said and pulled back. He slid his hands down her arms and looked right into her eyes. 'You thought I was _dead_?' he asked incredulously.

'Well you…I didn't hear from you for eight years. I thought maybe you'd gotten powerful and then died. I didn't exactly have a strict time-line to base my observations on, you know,' Athaya said, frowning. Crowley's expression matched her own.

'I was always looking out for you, Athaya. Always.' His eyes were dark and severe, but Athaya grinned.

'Pervert,' she smiled and Crowley rolled his eyes.

'Oi. Watch it, cheeky. Don't tempt me,' he said seriously. 'Besides, why would that worry you? Someone would have picked up the deal and made sure you were okay.'

'Well I didn't know that…and besides…I wouldn't want you to die,' Athaya said honestly.

'Oh, really?' Crowley asked and smiled. 'Would you be sad, Princess? If I died, would you cry?' he asked slyly and Athaya laughed.

'Bucketfuls. For days. I'd _never_ be the same,' Athaya grinned and then grew sober. 'No, really. I would be sad. Don't die, alright? I happen to be slightly fond of you.'

'I'll do my best, darling. Although I have to ask – ' Crowley paused. 'Is it just me or does that sound suspiciously like footsteps?' He tilted his head and Athaya froze.

She strained her ears and her eyes widened as she heard someone thundering down the stairs.

'_Athaya!_' She heard Dean yell and she grabbed Crowley's sleeve.

'Couldn't they help? They might know something,' Athaya asked hopelessly and Crowley shrugged.

'Sure. Once you've explained _why_ you need help from a demon by telling them you've got demon blood in _you_. I'm sure they'll understand perfectly.' Crowley said, not with malice, but with a slightly sarcastic undertone.

Athaya's face fell and she nodded. 'Right. Let's go, then.' she said, echoing her words from when she was a child.

'With pleasure,' Crowley said as he gripped her shoulder, his other hand still on her arm.

Just before they disappeared, Athaya just had time to see Dean stumble into view, a knife in his hands. He was in just a shirt and pair of boxers, his hair slightly mussed from sleep.

'Athaya?' He asked in confusion as he saw her in the hands of a demon, blood on the floor and sink.

'_Athaya!'_ Dean yelled, throwing the knife at Crowley just as they disappeared, too late.

Or so he thought.

**AN:**** ...Was that okay? It was okay, right? *nervously glances around***

**xxx**

**~Fen~**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: ****Hi everyone! Hope you're all enjoying the story still. Here's another chapter! Please reviews etc. It totally makes my day! **

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**Chapter Eleven:**

At first, she didn't notice.

Crowley had brought her to a room, and it took Athaya a couple of seconds to realise it was his study, even though it hadn't changed much since she'd been there last.

'Christ!' Crowley roared and stumbled into a bookshelf, dragging Athaya with him.

Athaya gasped and looked down to see the demon blade protruding from Crowley's shoulder. The wound sizzled and crackled with a glowing orange energy and he clutched at the knife with his free hand, his face contorting in pain.

'Oh, shit!' Athaya yelped and spun to face him. She blanched at the blood that had seeped through his jacket and was now staining his hand red. 'What happened?' She asked, trying to figure out how she could help.

'Your boyfriend,' Crowley grunted, 'threw a knife at me.'

'He's not my boyfriend,' Athaya scowled and then grimaced. 'We're going to have to pull that out, aren't we?'

'You think?' He growled and wrapped his hand around the bone handle.

'Wait. It's okay, I'll do it.' Athaya said quietly as she noted the awkward position Crowley was in.

'No, it's alright, darling. I can handle this one,' he said gruffly and winced as he bumped the blade slightly.

'Yeah, right,' Athaya rolled her eyes. 'You might end up cutting yourself more, from the angle that you're trying to pull it from.'

'Oh really?' Crowley's eyes grew playful, despite the obvious pain he must have been in.

'Yes, _really.'_ Athaya said and pulled his hand away from the blade gently. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

However, if Athaya was being truthful, the last thing she wanted to do was pull the knife from Crowley's shoulder. It was serrated, so it would hurt, and she didn't want to hurt him. It wasn't that she was squeamish. Just concerned for his wellbeing.

But Athaya steeled herself and held her breath, wrapping her slender fingers around the bone hilt tightly. She resisted the urge to look at Crowley's face, and wondered how she looked to him.

Terrified, probably.

Athaya took a deep breath and clenched her eyes shut for a moment while she focussed. After a moment, she opened them. 'Okay…' she said. 'I'm going to pull it out in three…two…'

She ripped the blade out before she got to one and Crowley roared in pain.

'Fuck!' he swore, swinging his other arm out, causing Athaya to stumble away from him, the knife clutched in her hand. Crowley leant against a wall and grimaced for a moment before recovering. She looked down at the blood-drenched weapon and swallowed thickly. She looked down at the floor, refusing to face Crowley. She felt sick. Maybe it was a combination of her supernatural episode and that she was still feeling horrible, but she felt very on the verge of tears.

'That…' he said slowly, 'was not very nice.' He inspected the wound and scowled at it before looking up at Athaya, a small smile on his face.

That smile fell when he saw her expression. 'Princess?' He inquired, walking over to her and lifting her chin slightly with his good hand 'What's wrong, darling?'

Athaya looked away from him, but not before he saw her eyes.

'Are you…_crying?'_ he asked, astonished.

She shook her head and attempted to smile it off angrily. 'No. Of course not.' Her Australian accent was back now, but it didn't take that for Crowley to know she was lying.

'Has anybody every told you you're a horrible liar?' he asked quietly.

'I'm actually a very good liar,' Athaya sniffed.

'So you are crying, then?' he raised one eyebrow and then both when she didn't respond. 'I'll take that as a '_yes'_. Explain,' he demanded, stroking her chin lightly. 'Please,' he added as an afterthought.

She smiled and blushed slightly. 'It's a stupid reason. Forget about it. I'm fine now.'

Crowley didn't move. Athaya stared at him in challenge for a minute, but he didn't look away.

Athaya broke under his intent gaze. 'Fine,' she sighed. 'I…don't like hurting people.'

'What?' Crowley laughed. 'That's it?' he scoffed. 'That's all? Princess, this is nothing,' he said, gesturing to his shoulder. 'I do much worse than this for _kicks_.'.

Athaya laughed. 'Yeah, but I meant for _me._ _I _don't like hurting people. For once it's not about you.'

'Although it really is,' he interrupted.

'Although it really _isn't_,' Athaya insisted and continued. 'Causing pain isn't something I consider a nice thing.'

Crowley grew serious. 'I'm sorry, darling, but we can no longer be friends. You have just discredited a personal hobby of mine, and I'm afraid I simply cannot associate myself with a compassionate human like yourself.'

Athaya smiled. 'That's too bad,' she frowned in mock sadness. 'Things were just getting interesting.'

'That's an understatement, Princess,' Crowley grinned. He appeared to leave the matter alone, and Athaya breathed a small sigh of relief. She didn't want him to know why she was really crying. He'd been exactly right. It wasn't just that she hated hurting people…she didn't like hurting _him._

Somehow, after everything she'd been through, it didn't sit well that she'd hurt the one person who had essentially saved her. She still felt shaken from her dream and now this had worsened it. That's what had made her cry. She just felt…out of sorts.

Crowley pulled his hand away from Athaya's face and she realised she had been up against the wall, the demon less than a few inches away. Athaya looked into his eyes and thought she saw something…something she hadn't expected.

Pity.

It was gone almost as soon as Athaya spotted it and she blinked in surprise.

_ Well then. _Athaya felt her sad mood evaporate. She didn't want his pity. She could handle other people pitying her, but not him. If Crowley pitied her, than she was as good as dead.

She tossed her hair and walked over to Crowley's desk, where she flopped down in the large leather chair. Crowley raised an eyebrow and turned slowly, clearing his throat.

'_Careful_, Princess. I'm starting to get the impression that you're far cheekier than is strictly healthy,' he smiled and Athaya laughed.

'Why would you say that?' Her Australian accent was still prominent, even though the immediate distress was gone.

'First you pulled out that knife – earlier than expected, I might add – and now you're sitting in my chair.'

'What's so cheeky about that?' Athaya asked innocently.

He walked around the stand in front of her, talking as he did so. 'It's quite fascinating. You've still got exactly the same amount of balls as you did when you were little.'

'Thank you,' Athaya blinked. 'You're still wearing exactly the same suit' she retorted.

'Good grief,' Crowley looked wounded. 'Someone _must_ explain fashion to you. Princess, that suit was _so_ eight years ago.' He winked and Athaya blushed once again before frowning.

'Are you implying that I have no sense of fashion?' Athaya inquired, her eyes narrowing.

'No, not at all. I'm just implying that perhaps you would like some advice from a master. I happen to have in mind several dresses that would suit you perfectly.' he held his hand out to Athaya and she pulled a face.

'Really?' she mocked. 'I nearly died and you want to go try on clothes? I've gotta say, you're sounding suspiciously feminine, Crowley. Maybe you'd like to sort your priorities?'

'Trust me, I know _exactly _what my priorities should be. I also think we both require a reprieve, don't you?' He suggested.

'Possibly. How's your shoulder feeling?' Athaya mused, leaning back in the chair.

'Like it's been stabbed,' Crowley said, expressionless. 'How are _you _feeling?'

'Like I've been lobotomised.' Athaya paused and grinned. 'I see your point.'

'Of course you do. It's because I'm always right.' He re-offered his hand and Athaya took it, standing up.

'Except when you're wrong,' she smiled.

**AN:**** So...slightly cute ending. Is that okay? Interesting stuff will happen in the next chapter, I suspect, but it might take me a few more days to upload (soooo many tests next week :( and assignments due) Anyway: hope you enjoyed!**

**xxx**

**~Fen~**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN:**** Hi my darlings! Here's another chapter – much earlier than I expected. I may have rushed studying for a test to get this to you, but meh – the things we do for love *things we do for loooove***

**I'm in a sing-y/music-y mood today, haha. In fact, if you want to listen to a song that kind of sets a mood for the end of this chapter – try Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap (one of absolute favourite songs of all time)**

**Enjoy!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**PS: And I just realised, I hit ten chapters a couple of chapters ago - huzzah! Milestone acheived :) But I digress: enjoy chapter twelve.**

**Chapter Twelve:**

'This?' Athaya quizzed and put a hand on her hip, showing off the fitted black and white zigzag pattern of the fabric that covered her from under the neck to above the knee. '_Really_?' She asked doubtfully as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She didn't like the way it fit her. It was too tight.

'Oh, _this_ I like,' Crowley said from where he sat on a plush, black sofa. Athaya could hear the smile in his voice.

She frowned. 'I dunno…' then looked up at his face reflected in the mirror. 'Oi. Eyes front, soldier,' she snapped as she saw where his gaze was directed. It certainly wasn't at her face.

'I'm just appreciating the view, Princess,' Crowley said honestly and Athaya glared at him.

'I bet you are. But fortunately,' she smiled sweetly. '…not for much longer.'

'And why is that?' Crowley folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.

'I hate this dress.' Athaya said abruptly. 'It's too – '

'Tight?' Crowley interjected. 'My sentiments exactly.'

She stared at him for a moment, confused. 'But you said…'

'I'm playing with you, Princess.' He chuckled. Then he sighed, 'Truth is…you look gorgeous in all of them. You'd look sexy in a potato sack.'

Athaya couldn't help the smile that sprung to her face. 'Ha!...Thanks,' she laughed and walked over to sit next to him.

'I mean it, Princess. And I don't give compliments lightly.' Crowley slid his gaze towards her without turning and Athaya leant her head back on the couch and closed her eyes.

'Well then, thank you,' she said sincerely and smiled to herself. Whatever had happened earlier…whatever her dream was…it had drained her. She was exhausted.

'How are you feeling?' Crowley asked and Athaya sighed.

'Tired, but okay. How's the arm?'

'Completely healed,' Crowley said happily and then grew suspiciously silent. 'This isn't bad either,' Athaya heard him say and she opened her eyes to look down. She gasped as she saw she was in nothing but lacy, black underwear.

'Crowley!' Athaya shrieked and he laughed as she slapped the demon on the arm, outraged.

'Don't worry, Princess. It's all in jest.' He blinked, sliding his eyes down her body and Athaya followed his gaze, gasping once again, as this time she found a beautiful black dress covering her. It was as dark as pitch, and Athaya felt like she could get lost staring at the velveteen material. It didn't seem solid. More like she could fall into the colour.

'What is this?' Athaya gasped. 'This isn't a dress. This is a ball gown!' She jumped up off the seat to make sure she didn't crease the fabric. She marvelled at how the strapless black gown tapered at her middle and then sprung outwards, falling to the ground in graceful folds of dark fabric. When she looked closer, she could see detailed embroidery over the bodice trail out across her waist, following the pleats of the skirt downwards like vines.

'Now this, I _definitely_ like,' came Crowley's voice from right next to her ear. Athaya jumped slightly, but didn't stop smiling as Crowley took her elbow and led her over to the mirror to see her reflection.

What Athaya found staring back was a tall, pale beauty.

Her hair had been piled on top of her head in a dark, messy crown, revealing her long neck and slender shoulders. She was bare of all jewellery, except for a necklace.

_Her_ necklace.

The metal rose hung just under her collar-bone, and Athaya spied a matching flower tucked into her hair at the base of the bun. She lifted the hem of her dress and found a pair of tall, black heels. If she'd thought she was tall before, now she was a giant. She towered almost a head above Crowley.

Definitely not her usual attire.

'Crowley, this dress is stunning,' Athaya whispered in slight reverence.

'I think it's more dependent on the woman who's wearing it,' he said simply and Athaya blushed. She grinned to herself as she thought of Chelsea's reaction to the gown. One of absolute shock. She could almost picture the conversation.

_Chelsea_.

Athaya stumbled slightly and Crowley caught her waist as Athaya properly remembered her dream, and what had happened. How it _wasn't_ a dream. She turned to him with wide eyes and felt the beginnings of panic settle in her stomach. Crowley noticed and his grip on her tightened.

'Princess, what's wrong?' He asked, nudging her shoulder slightly.

Athaya shook her head 'I can't stay. I have to help my friend,' Athaya kicked the heels off and looked for her mobile before realising she didn't have it. It was back at Bobby's house, along with all her other possessions.

'Hey. Calm down. Talk to me, Athaya.' Crowley caught her hand and held it gently, running his thumb along her wrist. Athaya paused and spun to face him.

'Chelsea's going to die unless I save her. I saw it happen, Crowley.' Athaya struggled to keep the panic out of her voice. She looked down at the splendorous garment she was dressed in and shook her head. 'I can't believe I got distracted…' she pulled at the dress and swallowed. 'I feel sick.'

'It's okay, Princess. I'm sure the others will take care of it. Don't worry yourself.' Crowley soothed.

Athaya pulled her hand from his grip. 'Don't _worry_ myself?' she exclaimed, taking a step back. 'Sam and Dean don't even know she's in danger! Of course I'm worried! She's my friend. In case – while you've been spying on me – you hadn't noticed: my friends are in limited supply. Besides…It's my job to fix this kind of thing. I've got to go back and help.'

'I think you're forgetting a very key element about the thing you're hunting, here Princess. Blakely goes after girls reminiscent of Charlotte– and you fit the profile perfectly. If _do_ go back and save Chelsea, he's just going to focus on the nearest target: you.'

'You don't know that. I can't leave her!' Athaya felt another headache building up and the sick feeling in her stomach intensified, like an acid was eating away through her body. She stumbled once again and steadied herself on the sofa. Crowley took a step forward, but Athaya shook her head.

'I'm alright. I'm fine. Just a headache. Let's just go back, so I can tell them about her.' Athaya secretly had no intention of just _telling_ Sam and Dean about Chelsea. She had every intention of helping them kill the spirit. But Crowley didn't need to know that. Especially when he seemed so adamant that she not participate.

'Not going to happen, Princess. If you think I'm stupid enough to take you back, think again. I know you'll just have your little friends tie me up while you go off ghost hunting. I know how you work. ' Crowley said matter-of-factly and his face grew closed, his earlier relaxed stance melting away to be replaced by one of cold, businesslike indifference. 'I'm not going to risk you.'

Athaya laughed. But it wasn't a happy laugh. 'No. It's not up to you. It's none of my business if you don't want to help, but this is _my_ responsibility. There's no way in hell I'm sitting this out. I don't want your help. Just your cooperation. So take me back. Now.' Her words were strong, but Athaya stiffened as her headache ripped through her skull, intensifying with every second. She grimaced through it and took a step towards Crowley, who looked on the verge of anger.

'I think you'll find that it's most certainly up to me. In case you've forgotten, I own your soul, Princess. That _makes_ you my business.' There was a dangerous tone to his words now, and Athaya realised she'd forgotten that the person standing before her was a demon. And not one who had a history of nice-ness.

'Listen Crowley – ' Athaya began.

'No. _You _listen,' Crowley strode up to her and grabbed her arm. 'I made you a promise, and I've managed to keep that promise for eight years. I'm not planning on breaking our deal any time soon. So just let this problem sort itself out. You've got three perfectly capable hunters back there able to destroy this thing, and none of them are actual _targets_!' His volume increased and Athaya felt her insides go cold. He was starting to scare her, but she didn't let it show.

'Let go of me, _now,' _Athaya hissed. 'If you won't take me back, I'll find my own way.'

Crowley laughed coldly. 'Good luck with that, sweetheart, but I have no intention of letting you go gallivant off to get yourself killed.' Before Athaya could say another word, he transported them to another room, a bedroom of modest size with a black wardrobe and bed. Athaya lurched away from him and landed on the bed sheets roughly. She straightened up and glared at him.

'I don't understand why you're doing this!' Athaya cried.

'And I don't understand why you're so intent on getting yourself killed for just a girl!' Crowley snarled, pacing across the room where he locked the door and pocketed a key.

'Oh, really? Very mature,' Athaya snapped. 'You're going to lock me in a room. I'm not sixteen any more, Crowley.'

'Well then stop acting like it, you foolish girl,' Crowley growled and strode over to her. 'You're making me do this.'

'I find it very hard to see how I'm _making _you do anything. One would think that the king of the crossroads would have a mind of his own.' As soon as she said the words, she regretted them.

Crowley's scowl darkened and he froze. 'Fine. If that's the way you want it. I'll be back when I've developed a…mindof my _own, _as you put it,' he said with a tight smile.

_Shit. Now you've done it._ 'Wait, Crowley, I didn't mean that – '

'Oh, no. Don't you worry about _me_. You're obviously more worried about yourself. Or perhaps you're still worried about this Chelsea girl. Take your pick.' And with that, he vanished, leaving Athaya by herself in the dark bedroom.

She ran over to the door and pounded on it, wrenching the doorknob until she was sure it would fall off. It didn't. Athaya growled in frustration and collapsed on the bed, staring down at the gown that Crowley had dressed her in. It was so beautiful, but Athaya had let herself get caught up in Crowley's splendour and now her friend was in even more danger. She regretted everything she'd just said to Crowley, not only because now she couldn't help Chelsea, but because none of it was true.

Athaya knew Crowley cared about her, and she'd gone and thrown it in his face. That didn't stop what he'd done from being a dick move, but she understood that he was just trying to keep their deal intact: that he'd protect her.

She couldn't see how she was going to get out of the room, so Athaya decided to try and sleep her growing headache off.

She made a small sound of helpless frustration and tore the clips from her hair, letting it tumble down her back, after which she ripped the dress off and walked over to the wardrobe to find a pair of black silk pyjamas folded neatly in a draw underneath. _Of course. Everything's black with you,_ she thought bitterly to herself.

She slipped them on and then crawled into the bed, turning so the black dress was no longer in her view, discarded and crumpled on the floor. Her headache had reached tear-inducing heights and Athaya rolled over to press her face into the pillow sadly.

Sleep did not come easily.

**AN: ****Please don't hate me *hides behind laptop* **

**There was quite a bit of drama in this chapter – which was super fun to write, btw – and now things are sticky…however – don't worry! I'm sure it will all be fine ;) **

**The next chapter will be a little shorter (but this one was slightly longer, so I think of it as compensation.) Don't forget to review! It makes me super happy and motivates me to write more :P **

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: ****Hi everyone – I was in such a good mood I decided to upload the next chapter! *cheers all around* **

**This chapter is short though, and from Dean's point of view. I hope you're all are okay with that!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**Chapter Thirteen:**

_ ~Meanwhile, back at Bobby's~_

Dean slammed his fist on the desk in frustration. 'Come _on!_ She's got to be somewhere.'

Sam frowned and looked up from the laptop he was surveying. 'Dude, chill. We'll find her, don't worry.'

'Of course I'm _worried!'_ Dean exclaimed angrily. 'We've got less than two days to kill this thing, and the person who knew the most about it was just kidnapped by a demon.' His younger brother nodded tersely and closed the laptop.

'But if you don't keep it together, we'll lose her forever and this thing will go and kill someone else.' Sam said calmly and walked over to Dean. Bobby was seated at his desk and he put down a glass of something alcoholic to nod in agreement.

'The boy's got a point, Dean,' Bobby said folded his arms.

'Well then what do you suggest we do?' Dean growled, casting away the newspaper he was canvassing, looking for any sign of demonic omen nearby that might hint at Athaya's whereabouts.

'I _suggest_ that maybe you get your head out of your ass and think about this rationally,' Bobby said, his brow knitting together in a frown.

Dean took a deep breath. _Relax. You'll find her. _'Fine. What should I do?' he asked.

Sam thought for a moment. 'What if…You and I go kill this spirit and Bobby works on finding Athaya?' he suggested.

'No.' Dean said shortly.

'Well, why not?' Bobby questioned.

Dean ran his hand across his jaw. 'Because I want to be the one to find this demon.'

Bobby rolled his eyes. Sam sighed, 'Why does it have to be you, Dean?' He sounded as if he were talking to a five-year-old.

Sam's tone didn't miss Dean, who glared at him. 'Because I'm the one who brought her here, dammit, and I feel responsible!'

'And of course this has nothing to do with your penchant for vengeance.' Bobby said quietly so only Sam would hear. The tall brother's mouth tightened and he sighed once again.

'Fine. You and Bobby stay here, I'll go – '

'No way,' Dean interrupted. 'There's no way I'm letting you go after this thing alone.'

'I'll be fine Dean. We've still got a couple of days left. Besides, this spirit only goes after girls.'

'Which makes you the perfect target,' Dean smirked, unable to resist.

'Thanks. Real mature,' Sam huffed.

'Anytime,' Dean grinned.

'Is there a point at which you two ladies plan on making any progress here?' Bobby asked, his voice tinged with irritation.

'Right. Sorry,' Sam apologised and Dean grew sober.

'Okay. So…You and Bobby go and gank this thing,' Dean surmised. 'I stay and find Athaya. Does that sound like a plan?'

Bobby shrugged. 'It's the best one we've got so far.'

Sam shook his head. 'Hold on. You going after this demon alone? I don't like it.'

'Why not?' Dean glowered.

'We know absolutely nothing about this demon,' Sam said.

'We know it's a crossroads demon. It can teleport,' Dean challenged.

'Be reasonable, Dean. That doesn't mean anything,' Sam scoffed. 'We know much more about this ghost than the demon. _Reason_ would dictate that we take care of the ghos – '

'Reason can go and screw itself.' Dean interrupted. 'Here's what we know: it's a crossroads demon. It can teleport. It's got Athaya. And every _second _that we spend arguing, that demon is getting closer and closer to making a deal. Or worse.'

Sam grew silent and Dean shook his head after a minute of silence. 'Unbelievable. I'm going to the bathroom. I need to clear my head.'

Dean stalked out of the room and to the bathroom, where Athaya's blood was still on the ground. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and almost flinched. He looked like he was ready to kill something. Dean gave a yell and slammed his fist on the basin in frustration. He couldn't believe they had lost her. That _he_ had lost her. Dean swallowed thickly. There was something about Athaya…something that drew him to her. She hadn't mentioned their almost kiss, but he got the feeling that she'd been thinking about it. She'd liked him, but her reluctance suggest there was also…someone else. He could tell. She seemed like such an open person, it was hard for him not to like her. Not to mention she was gorgeous. At the same time, he was certain she had secrets, but hey – who didn't?

Dean looked down at the floor in resignation and found himself staring directly at Athaya's few droplets of crimson blood clinging to the tiles. Seeing it made him feel sick, and he briefly thought about cleaning it up when he saw something on the sink, next to his hand.

A black scrap of cloth.

He peered at it, puzzled. The handkerchief hadn't been there earlier, he knew that. So where had it come from? It sure as hell wasn't Sam or Bobby's. He couldn't imagine Athaya owning anything like that…so that left…

The demon.

Dean's eyes widened and he couldn't believe his luck. Perhaps they had a way of finding Athaya after all.

Picking up the silk fabric, he walked back into the study. Bobby and Sam looked up from a hushed conversation and stared at the black handkerchief Dean held aloft in his hand.

'Hey Bobby, think you can summon the bastard with this?' Dean grinned.

**AN: ****Alas, another cliff hanger – but none of you are allowed to complain, because I gave you two chapters in one day. Well. One day in my time-zone :P **

**In exchange for you all not flying to Australia to torture me until I upload another chapter…I also promise that (finally) some romance is coming up in the next chapter! I did originally class this fic as a romance for a reason, you know – so here's me finally keeping true to that promise!**

**Love you all – reviews also**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: ****Hi everyone – here's the next chapter! Finally romance (although only a bit. From here one out, though, there should be more :P)**

**Xxx**

**~Fen**

**PS: WE'RE AT 30 REVIEWS! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! It makes me so happy! xxx**

**Chapter Fourteen:**

Athaya slept for a few fitful hours before her headache woke her.

She sat bolt upright as the same feeling from before encroached on her mind, and before she knew it, she was in another waking-premonition. This time, though, she knew what it was.

_Athaya blinked in confusion as she found herself standing in Bobby's study. After a few seconds, she realised she must be having another dream. Like with Chelsea. She glanced around to see what was happening, and her gaze slid to a stop at a figure in the middle of the room._

_ Tied to a chair, in the middle of a devil's trap, sat Crowley._

_ Athaya froze as she saw the cuts and bruises that covered his body. Definitely some broken bones, at least. She blanched at the sight of the table next to him, covered in various knives and a few things Athaya didn't recognise, but could certainly guess the purpose of. She ran over to Crowley and knelt beside him. He looked slightly ruffled, but aside from that, not greatly in pain._

_ 'Oh…I wish you could hear me. I'm so sorry for what I said.' Athaya tried to brush her hand over his cheekbone, but found it went straight through. It was more than a little disconcerting. She spun around when she heard footsteps and saw a familiar person walk around the corner, wiping a serrated blade with a cloth._

_ Dean._

_ 'You know, this would be a lot easier if you just told me where she is,' Dean said, putting the weapon down on the table. Crowley looked unimpressed._

_ 'Please. I do much worse than this on my days off. But do continue, if it will make you feel better about losing her.' Crowley smiled, as if some secret joke was being shared._

_ 'Don't gloat, you bastard. He just wants to help,' Athaya scolded. She looked up at Dean and paled when he dipped a knife in holy water. As he handled the blade, Dean talked._

_ 'The thing is – I don't feel bad, because I _know_ I'm going to find her. You on the other hand…I hope you realise what a piece of scum you are. Why even take her? What is she to you? Athaya sure as hell didn't summon you, so if you don't mind explaining, that would be a real help.'_

_ 'Why would I help you?' Crowley asked. 'You haven't even bought me a drink yet,' he smirked._

Smack.

_ Dean's fist hit Crowley's face with enough force to make the demon wince. He rolled his jaw and grinned tightly, spitting out mouthful of blood._

_ 'Nice right hook,' Crowley nodded his head in approval. Athaya's breath caught as Dean re-dipped his knife in holy water, re-wetting it and held it up to Crowley's face._

_ 'One more time. Tell me where she is.' Dean demanded coldly._

_ 'No chance, mate. She's mine,' Crowley said simply and Dean's eyes flashed._

_ He stabbed the knife down into Crowley's arm, pinning it to the chair arm. Crowley howled in pain and Athaya screamed in shock, falling backwards. She hadn't been expecting that. _

_ She looked up at Dean with wide eyes. 'Please, stop,' she whispered quietly, knowing he couldn't hear her. She cried out again as Dean grabbed another knife and plunged it through Crowley's other arm, his roar of pain drowning out Athaya's one of fear._

_ Crowley's head fell to his chest after the second knife and Dean took a step back, unblinking and unsympathetic. 'Well? Are you feeling slightly more cooperative?'_

_ Athaya felt tears spring to her eyes. Why wouldn't Crowley just tell Dean where she was? 'Dean. Stop this! I'm fine. I'm safe…' her words faded away as he remained impassive to her pleas, unable to hear them._

_ After a moment, Crowley's form started shaking, his head still resting against his chest. Dean paused in the middle of dousing another blade to stare at the demon._

_ 'What? What is it?' Dean asked brusquely. _

_ Athaya realised Crowley was laughing. He raised his head and a grim smile twitched into existence on his face. 'Oh, nothing. It's just…I know something you don't know – if you'll forgive the cliché.' Crowley laughed once again and Athaya frowned. What was he talking about?_

_ 'What are you talking about?' Dean asked, his voice dangerously low._

_ 'I'm talking about something that is going to come to light very soon. That is…since she's been awake for several minutes now. That girl just doesn't know when to listen…' Crowley continued and Dean frowned._

_ 'Who? Who's been awake?' Dean held a bottle of holy water over Crowley's head, ready to pour. Crowley just narrowed his eyes in a wicked smile and Dean's hand tilted, the edge of the bottle threatening to spill its contents over Crowley's face._

_ 'No!' Athaya heard herself cry just as she opened her mouth to speak._

Hold on. What?

_ Athaya froze in shock as she saw herself materialise on the floor behind Crowley, dressed in a plain black dress shirt and silk shorts, her hand reaching towards Crowley as tears streamed down her face._

_ 'Don't do it, Dean. Please.' The Athaya on the other side of the room croaked, her voice desperate._

_ Dean too had frozen. '…Athaya?' he asked in quiet disbelief. 'How did you…No. Why_ _are you telling _me_ to stop?' He started towards her and the Athaya on the ground opened her mouth to speak._

_ As it turned out, Athaya didn't get to hear any more of the conversation as a fierce pain tore through her skull, bringing her to her knees, blood dripping from her nose and ears. She cried out as she was ripped back to the present._

Athaya gasped into the bed sheets and rolled over, choking on the air. If there hadn't been enough last time, now it was as if there was too much. She felt someone's hand on her back help sit her up. She managed to swing her legs over the side of the bed and sat up, bending down to put her head between her knees as she breathed through her nose.

She started coughing and saw through tear-blurred eyes that a few droplets of blood hit the clean cream carpet. After another second of gasping, Athaya's lungs finally cleared and so did her vision, allowing her to see a worried looking Crowley crouched beside her, one hand on her back.

'Princess, are you alright?' His voice was wary, slightly guarded.

Athaya shook her head and let out a choked sob, wanting to throw her arms around his neck for the second time that day. She didn't. He was still angry, she could see it in his eyes, and hear it in his voice. 'I saw you…Dean…he…I couldn't stop it, Crowley,' she whispered and Crowley sat on the edge of the bed next to her. She looked down at her hands and cursed herself for crying. It was stupid. The event hadn't even happened yet.

'It's alright. You're here now. It was just a dream,' Crowley offered.

'No it wasn't,' Athaya dabbed at a trickle of blood from her nose. 'It was another premonition.'

Crowley nodded. 'I know, but that doesn't mean it wasn't also dream. It hasn't happened yet,' he said, reading Athaya's mind.

'But it will.' Athaya whispered. 'Soon.'

'Tell me what happened,' Crowley coaxed, his voice softening as he stared at her intently. He snapped his fingers and the blood on her face and the floor vanished. He touched her temple gently, and Athaya felt her headache subside slightly. 'Better?' he inquired and Athaya nodded.

'I…saw you…It was Dean. For some reason you were at Bobby's house.' Athaya began.

'Well I haven't made any plans of stopping by. The alcohol there's horrible,' Crowley smiled slightly, but Athaya didn't return it.

'He…tortured you, Crowley. He pinned your arms to the table.' Athaya said, trying to get him to see that it wasn't a joke. 'You wouldn't tell him where I was. All you had to do was tell him. It wasn't like it was that hard.'

'Why do you say that?' Crowley inquired, shifting to face her more.

'Because I was _right there._ I was invisible or something. On the ground. Behind you the whole time,' Athaya shook her head in disbelief. 'You said I was asleep. Then I became visible somehow and the dream ended.' She let out a shaky sigh. 'You just took it though,' she said, thinking about the torture. 'How did you do that?'

Crowley's dark eyes glinted. 'I know how torture works, Princess. You just don't let it get to you. Eventually, if it happens to you enough, you don't feel it anymore.'

Athaya looked at him sadly. 'I'm sorry.'

His expression became guarded again. 'What for?'

'For earlier. I shouldn't have said that. It's not true.'

'Which "it" are you referring to, exactly?' Crowley asked and Athaya couldn't ignore the twinge of sarcasm in his voice

She flinched, 'All of it. I can't say I didn't mean it, because I did – at the time. But it wasn't true – especially what I said about you not having a mind of your own. Of course you do. If you didn't, you never would have helped me in the first place, when I was little,' Athaya reasoned. 'The fact that you _did_…and that you're _still _helping me, despite how obviously useless I am…I don't understand it. I'm not worth the trouble. I'm sorry. I'm…not so great at apologising,' Athaya muttered as she realised she was beginning to ramble. She stole a glance at Crowley to see that he was staring at her very pensively, his eyes dark as he listened. He closed them for a few seconds, murmured something quietly and then reopened them, refocussing on Athaya.

She frowned slightly, but didn't hear what he'd said. She took his silence as a cue to continue, despite the fact that she was definitely on her way to a full blown ramble. '…And I realise you just wanted to keep our deal intact. I guess you haven't broken many deals, and I certainly don't want to be your first, but I just wanted to make sure Chelsea was okay. I feel as though I'm the only one who can do it. Keep her safe, I mean. Does that sound stupid? It sounds stupid, doesn't it?' Athaya looked at Crowley once again and saw something shift behind his eyes.

He tilted his head to the side. 'Princess. It's alright. That's not stupid at all,' he said softly.

'I'm really sorry,' Athaya apologised again. 'I'm so bad at apologising,' she repeated.

'Well then stop apologising.' Crowley said, his voice rougher than before.

'What do you suggest I do instead?' Athaya asked flippantly. What she didn't expect was Crowley's hand under her chin.

'I can think of a few things,' he said before bringing her mouth to meet his. Athaya stiffened in shock and then relaxed into the kiss, allowing herself to be swept up in the sudden rush of heat that flowed throughout her body. At first the kiss was urgent, like he needed to tell her something. Athaya leant into him and wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss and earning a low growl from Crowley's throat in response. She felt his arms slide up her back to tangle with her already knotted hair, before one of them travelled down to her shoulder to slide the thin strap of her silk camisole down her arm.

He moved his mouth from hers to trail kisses down her neck, moving to her shoulder and then back up again. Athaya leant back and gasped as his mouth travelled lower and she pulled back to stare into his dark eyes, which were somehow even blacker than usual.

'Why – ?' She was cut off by another kiss, this time more gentle, but still as meaningful, and she forgot about talking. She forgot about Chelsea, about Sam and Dean. She forgot about everything except for the man in front of her.

At least for the next few hours.

**AN: ****Gah. I'm pretty sure I suck at writing romance scenes :/ Sorry if it's horrible! Is this acceptable? There will be more cuteness in the next chapter – I promise.**

**Now tell me truthfully…How many of you thought she was going to get with Dean?**

**Hell no. They're just friends, you silly muffins! (not that Dean knows that yet)**

**I say all this ^^^ with love, though, and applaud you if you knew all along that Athaya would end up with Crowley :P It was never going to be any other way!**

**See you in the next chapter!**

**Xxx **

**~Fen~**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: ****Hey guys! **

**Sorry this took me a little longer (I was working all weekend - 10 hours of babysitting + ten hours of waitressing - I didn't even get to do my homework :/ But it's kinda long, and there's some cuteness in it, so be happy!) Thank you soooooo much for the reviews, I got so much feedback from the last chapter – thank you my lovelies!**

**Enjoy **

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

Chapter Fifteen:

Athaya woke up peacefully for the first time in a while. While her premonitions might not have started until the other day, she'd been having nightmares for the past few months. Always the same one: of her falling down into a dark place where there was no light – except for hellfire – but plenty of pain.

So when Athaya woke up in the arms of Crowley, not from a nightmare, but by him shifting slightly, she couldn't believe it. She smiled happily and blew out a small sigh. Right into Crowley's face.

His eyes snapped open and Athaya realised that he hadn't been asleep. Her eyes widened. 'Do you even sleep?' she asked suspiciously.

He grinned at her. 'No. Sleeping's overrated, Princess. Also: good morning.'

'It is,' Athaya smiled, not skipping a beat.

'Besides,' Crowley continued. 'I find it far more fascinating to watch _other_ people sleep.'

'That's not creepy at all,' Athaya laughed and then froze. 'Have you been watching me?!' she gasped and inwardly cringed. She had no idea what she did in her sleep. Probably horrible things like snore or talk.

'Do you see another sleeping person in here?' he asked playfully and Athaya grimaced. She scrunched her eyes shut in embarrassment.

'Oh, god. Tell me…how bad was it?' She hid her face under the covers and felt Crowley peel them back.

He laughed. 'You're very adorable, actually. You make these little contented sighs every so often. Very endearing, Princess,' he winked and Athaya groaned.

'Ugh.' She sighed. 'At least it's not snoring,' she solaced herself.

'Oh. You do that too,' he teased and Athaya smacked his arm.

'Not funny.'

'I think you'll find it's extremely funny, actually.' There was laughter in his eyes and Athaya soon found herself smiling.

'You're lucky I'm so tired, or I'd…' Athaya trailed off as she struggled to find a suitable threat.

'You'd what? Throw a pillow at me?' Crowley seemed to reconsider. 'Actually, _you'd_ take it to a whole new level. You'd probably kill me with it. Hell hath no fury…although personally, I think you'd be a lot of fun if you were scorned.' There was a wicked gleam to his eye and Athaya shivered.

'Haha, very funny.' She started to sit up, but Crowley yanked her back down, making her shriek. 'What are you doing?' she gasped as he wrapped his arms around her, securing her in place next to him.

'I've decided to keep you prisoner, Princess. I'm a terrifying dragon, and you're the beautiful, but distressed monarch,' he smiled down at her. 'What will you do?'

Athaya couldn't believe what she was hearing. She'd never seen this side to Crowley before. 'Okay…' Athaya pondered all the possibilities. 'What kind of dragon are you?'

'What does that mean?' Crowley laughed. 'I'm a fire-breathing reptile, as big as a house and wicked to the bone.'

'Yeah, but why am I captive? Do you want to eat me? Or kill me? Or keep me prisoner? Perhaps you're in love with me,' Athaya mused. 'I am a beautiful princess, after all.'

'Albeit a cocky one,' Crowley growled and kissed her neck. 'There. I'm utterly infatuated by you. That was a dragon kiss, by the way.'

Athaya laughed and frowned in concentration, tapping her chin lightly with her free hand. 'Well…maybe I don't want to escape,' she suggested. 'Maybe I'm happy being your prisoner.'

'But why would you be?' Crowley blinked in confusion. 'Unless you're suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Or perhaps you're just masochistic,' Crowley mused, running a finger up her arm.

'Or maybe I just love my dragon. Maybe despite his wickedness, he keeps me safe from all the bad things that want to hurt me.' Athaya offered and warmed under Crowley's gaze, which had softened.

'Then…' he began, deep in concentration. 'While you'd have to be a pretty stupid princess – '

'Thanks.'

'My pleasure. As I was saying: you'd have to be a pretty stupid princess to love a dragon…but maybe the dragon doesn't know you love him back. Maybe he's never had anyone love him before.'

'But I do. Of course I do,' Athaya said simply. 'He saved me from so many things. From other men,' – _Because when had she _actually _had a functioning relationship with another guy? – '_From monsters.' – _Literally – '_From myself.' – _Her little brother's death_ – 'Even from the devil himself.' – _Azazel. _

'He hasn't saved you from the devil yet,' Crowley said softly. There was a sad look in his eyes that didn't forebode well. Athaya realised that at some point, the game had stopped being a metaphor, and she stretched up to kiss Crowley's cheek.

'But he will,' she said confidently. 'I know he will. And that's all the dragon needs. He's happy knowing that the princess believes in him.'

Crowley grew silent and rested his chin on Athaya's head, pulling her tighter to him. 'You're right. That's all he needs.' He pressed a kiss to her forehead and closed his eyes, although Athaya couldn't see, she felt him relax, and after a few minutes of silence she extricated herself from his arms. She pulled a black bed sheet with her as she hunted for her pyjamas that lay discarded on the other side of the room.

Crowley didn't open his eyes, but instead remained on the bed, his arm flung over his face. 'You do realised I _have_ seen you naked, correct?' he asked, referring to the silk sheet wrapped around Athaya's slender form.

She laughed. 'Yes, but it's _cold_, genius.'

Crowley blinked his eyes open. 'So it is.' He snapped his fingers and suddenly a large, ornately carved fireplace appeared on the opposite side of the room.

'Ooh. That's brilliant.' Athaya slipped her pyjamas from earlier on, and then Crowley's black dress shirt over that, relishing in the smell that enveloped her as she did. It smelled like Crowley. A faint mixture of smoke, spices and some kind of alcohol. Whatever it was, the heady smell of it almost made Athaya dizzy. It definitely made her feel warm.

Athaya shifted in front of the fire and absorbed the heat gladly. Crowley raised an eyebrow at her stolen attire and stood up, clicking his fingers to coat himself in a fresh shirt and suit. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, pulling her close.

'You have no idea how tempted I am to get my shirt back,' Crowley said. Athaya could hear the longing in his voice and she smiled.

'If you want it, you'll have to come and get it,' Athaya said coyly, leaning back slightly.

'Definitely cheeky,' Crowley murmured into her neck before spinning her to face him, grabbing her hands and pinning then in one of his. He lifted them above her head and pushed her against the wall, bracing himself against it with his free hand.

Athaya's eyes widened in mock surprise, her grey ones staring up into his dark ones as she gasped dramatically. 'My dragon has me captured. Whatever shall I do?'

'I certainly hope scream for help,' Crowley whispered in her ear and she laughed.

'Help?' It sounded more like a question than a scream, and Athaya bit her bottom lip in mock concern. She saw Crowley's gaze travel to her lips as she did and something inside her saw an opportunity. She experimented and licked them slightly before seeing Crowley's eyes darken.

'I don't think anyone can hear you,' he said hoarsely, his eyes still fixed on her lips.

She pursed them slightly in worry and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Crowley's lips crashing against her own. She laughed against his mouth and made a small sound of pleasure as he bit down on her bottom lip. They deepened the kiss, and when Crowley eventually pulled away, Athaya was gasping for air.

'You…really know how to take a girl's breath away,' she breathed after a moment of recovery.

'So I've been told,' Crowley grinned. He on the other hand – seemed not at all out of breath, and Athaya frowned.

'What, do you not need to _breathe_, either?' she asked.

'Not as much as you, it seems,' he smirked and Athaya rolled her eyes.

'Smooth.' She sighed and leant her forehead against his, her arms still pinned above her head.

'Athaya…' Crowley said quietly after a moment, and she frowned instantly. His tone was no longer happy.

'Yes?' She asked, slightly apprehensive.

'These premonitions…if they _do_ happen…You said you revealed yourself to Dean in the future…'

'Yeah…' Athaya said, not sure where the conversation was heading.

'Can I get you to promise me something?' he asked, gazing at her with concerned eyes.

'Of course,' she answered without hesitation.

He smiled briefly before it vanished. 'Can you promise me…that you _won't _reveal yourself?'

'What?' Athaya asked in disbelief, she pulled her hands down from his grip and crossed her arms. Why would he ask her to do that?

'I need you to do that for me. Don't let him know you're there.' There was an urgency in his eyes and Athaya found herself nodding in agreement before her brain caught up with her actions.

'But why?' she asked after her lips finally connected to her brain.

'If he knows you were with me…' he sighed in mild frustration. 'You'll tell him everything. I'm sorry, Princess, but that's just who you are. You believe in the best of people, even if it isn't there. If you tell him about our deal or about your demon _heritage_…he'll kill you before you finish your sentence.'

Athaya's good mood evaporated. 'I…You…' She closed her eyes and swallowed, searching for an argument. 'But he'll…hurt you if I don't,' she said lamely.

He smiled slightly and stroked her cheek. 'I can handle a bit of hurt. Don't you worry about me.'

She frowned, raising a hand to his cheek. 'But…he might kill you.'

'Let me worry about that. Just keep yourself safe. You know I'm right.'

'I know,' she said, and pulled him close for a hug, burying her face in his shoulder. 'I hate it when you're right.'

'I'm always right,' he murmured against her hair.

'Except when you're wrong,' she echoed her earlier words. How quickly time had passed. That had been less than a day ago, and now look where she was. In the arms of the king of the crossroads.

He laughed against her hair. 'I think it's time to get dressed, as much as I would love to stay like this all day, Princess…we can't.'

Athaya stuck her tongue out at him. 'You're no fun,' she complained.

'I'm pretty sure you thought the exact _opposite_ of that last night,' he smirked and Athaya blushed.

Crowley kissed her briefly before leaning away from the wall, snapping his fingers once again to straighten out the room. The bed was now neatly made, and everything was where it should be.

'The dress is in the cupboard,' Crowley nodded towards the wardrobe and Athaya grimaced in embarrassment.

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to seem ungrateful, I – '

'That's exactly what I like about you, Princess.' Crowley interrupted. 'You don't let me intimidate you. At least…not when it counts,' he slid her a sly smile and Athaya felt a warmth spread throughout her body.

She pushed herself off the wall and stretched her arms above her head, yawning. 'What time is it, anyway?'

Crowley tilted his head. 'About…half-past nine. In the evening.'

'Of?' Athaya prompted. She'd completely lost track of what day it was.

'Monday,' Crowley answered.

_Shit. _'This ghost has got to die before tomorrow, Crowley. I'm not going to let Chelsea get hurt.'

He nodded in understanding and snapped his fingers, summoning something into his hands. Athaya only saw a glint of silver before it vanished into his closed fist. Crowley walked over to her and opened his hand, revealing a beautiful silver ring. It was a plain band, with a black, crystal stone of some kind in the centre, raised on a silver bed studded with white diamonds.

'This is for you,' he slipped it on the middle finger of her right hand.

Athaya marvelled at the stone. 'It's so beautiful. What is it?'

'A black diamond,' he said, smiling at her reaction.

'Black diamond? Are those even a thing?' she smiled, and tilted her hand in the light, watching the reflection dance across the faceted surface. Then she paused and looked up at him suspiciously. 'What's it for?' she asked cautiously.

Crowley sighed. 'Does everything have to be suspicious? It'll make you invisible, if you must know.'

Athaya's eyes widened a fraction. 'Wow. Really? How? I thought that would have taken a spell.'

'It did. I cast it last night, when you had just woken up from your dream.'

So that's what the mumbling had been. 'How did you know I would need it?' Athaya asked.

Crowley shrugged. 'I didn't. I just like to be prepared for every situation. The ring will only work for you – it's the second element to the spell. Just say _hide _when you want it to work and _reveal _when you want to reappear.'

Athaya blinked. 'Seriously? Just like that?'

'Just like that,' Crowley grinned.

Athaya narrowed her eyes. 'You think you're so impressive, don't you?'

'I happen to _know _I'm very impressive, Princess,' Crowley corrected.

'Fine. _Hide,'_ Athaya said quietly and disappeared. At first she didn't notice, and sighed. 'It didn't work, Crowley.'

'Wanna bet, Princess?' he turned his head, searching for her, and when his gaze slid right over where she was standing, Athaya gave a small gasp.

'Oh my god, it worked.' She crept around to the side and behind him, wrapping her arms around his chest from behind. 'Gotcha,' she smiled into his back.

He chuckled and turned to face her. Or where he thought she was, at least. He squinted. 'Nope. Can't see you.'

'That's so amazing!' Athaya exclaimed and shrieked when he grabbed her by the waist. 'But how did you – '

'I can still _hear_ you, Princess,' he grinned.

She nodded mutely and then spoke because he couldn't see the small gesture. 'Ah. Yes. Right. So if I want to come back, I just say – '

'Shh,' Crowley hushed her, and she noticed that he had frozen. He let go of her waist. 'Christ, get away from me. Quickly,' he commanded, and pushed her away none too gently.

_What? _'What's wrong?' Athaya dared to ask as she stumbled away from him. Had she said something? Done something?

'I'm being summoned,' Crowley grimaced and flinched slightly. 'Probably by your hunter friends.'

'What?' Athaya's mind fled back to the dream and she remembered what she'd been wearing. Exactly the same clothes she was wearing now. 'Shit!' She started to take off his shirt, hoping to change the future by changing her attire, but Crowley stiffened.

'Sorry Princess – Gotta go. I'll be back soon,' he said in a strained voice.

_What? _Athaya paused, mid button. Then it dawned on her. He was going to leave her behind. _That _would definitely change the future. Not to mention there'd be no chance of her revealing herself to Dean. Athaya blanched and clutched her skull as she was overwhelmed by a feeling. And not a good one.

If he left her here now…Crowley would die. She knew it for sure.

'Wait!' she reached out and grabbed his arm just as he was forcibly summoned away to Bobby's house. Athaya felt the blood rush to her head and a dizziness enveloped her. Apparently being involuntarily summoned was not so great for passengers.

Athaya tried to remain conscious, but was only slightly aware that they were in Bobby's study when she hit the floor with a thud, darkness overwhelming her completely.

**AN: ****I'm sorry…another cliffie. I just can't seem to help myself. However, I hope that was alright…did you like the dragon/princess bit? I thought it was cute. Because Athaya **_**really**_** loves Crowley, you know? I'll delve more into her and possibly his feelings later on, but until then: enjoy the cutenesssssss!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: ****Hi everyone! Here's the next chapter – Oh, the drama! This story has been a joy to write, and I'm so happy that people are reading and reviewing! It makes my day to see the numbers go up and to read all your lovely reviews School has been hectic – so I'm sorry if updates seem slower than usual :P**

**Don't forget to R&R!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

Chapter Sixteen:

Athaya woke up on the floor to a bellow of pain.

She blinked several times, about to yell in surprise herself, when she remembered what had happened. She slowly sat up, careful not to make a sound. As soon as she saw the sight in front of her, she felt a chill in her stomach.

Her dream was coming true.

Athaya was sitting on the ground, just behind Crowley, outside the edge of the devil's trap. Crowley was strapped to a chair, his back facing her, and Dean was standing in front of him, holding the second knife that would soon be embedded in Crowley's right arm – his left already impaled to the chair. That's where the yell had come from, as Dean had stabbed the first knife straight through Crowley's forearm.

Athaya felt sick as she saw Dean start towards Crowley, the second knife raised. Before she had time to do anything, he plunged it down and Crowley roared in pain. Athaya bit back her scream and tasted blood in her mouth.

_No! Stop, Dean. I'm right here._

She remembered that he just wanted to know where she was. She was right there! And Crowley had made her promise not to reveal herself. By doing the opposite of his instructions, she could have changed the future, she supposed…but it wasn't worth it. Not when the price was Crowley's life, and she could feel that it was still hanging in the balance. Athaya crawled forward slightly, until she was right behind Crowley's seat, and she reached up a hand to touch his elbow, letting him know she was there. He twitched his arm in response, his movements impaired by the blade protruding from it. Athaya felt tears slip down her cheeks. It was her fault this was happening to him.

'Well?' Dean asked Crowley, staring at him with loathing. 'Are you feeling slightly more cooperative?'

That was when Crowley started laughing.

'What? What is it?' Dean snapped, his eyes narrowing in distrust.

Crowley's slumped form straightened after a minute of laughter. 'Oh, nothing,' he chuckled. 'It's just…' Crowley looked up at Dean directly. 'I know something you don't know – if you'll forgive the cliché.'

Dean's look of distrust only increased. 'What are you talking about?'

Crowley sighed, 'I'm talking about something that is going to come to light very soon. That is…since she's been awake for several minutes now. That girl just doesn't know when to _listen_,' Crowley growled, directing his irritation at Athaya, who smiled slightly. He knew her well, apparently.

Because she had never planned on keeping her promise. Not for a second.

Athaya twisted the ring on her finger nervously and shifted back to her previous position, further away from Crowley. There was no point in letting Dean think she had been talking to the demon. That would only make his distrust her more.

Just as she settled back into her place, Dean held the bottle of holy water above Crowley's forehead. 'Who?' Dean demanded. 'Who's been awake?'

He tilted the bottle slightly and Athaya whispered _'Reveal,' _quietly, before her voice exploded as she screamed 'No!' just in time to give Dean pause.

'Don't do it, Dean. _Please.'_ Athaya urged, reaching her arm out reflexively towards Crowley.

'…_Athaya?' _Dean exclaimed in quiet disbelief. 'How did you…? No.' He stopped himself. 'Why are you telling _me_ to stop?' He walked towards her and Athaya felt a mild fear at the back of her mind blossom. This was when her dream had finished. She didn't know what was going to happen now, and she didn't have the time to check for a feeling.

'Dean. I can explain.' Athaya stood up and instantly regretted it. As soon as she left the ground, Dean's gaze was drawn to her attire. Or lack thereof.

'What the hell?' He took a step back, his hand clenching around the knife as his gaze slid up and down her body.

_Shit. Nice job, genius. _'No. Don't – stop, Dean, wait.' Athaya said as she saw the hurt in his eyes.

'Stop what? I'd like to know what I'm stopping _for_, Athaya. So let me rephrase that: Why the hell do you look like you just got out of bed?' From the way Dean said it, Athaya didn't think he meant just sleeping.

She nodded slowly. 'If you leave him alone,' she pointed to Crowley, 'I'll tell you.'

Dean shook his head in disbelief. 'He's a _demon,_ Athaya. A freaking _demon._ How about you tell me, because you owe me that at least, and I kill him anyway?'

Athaya folded her arms and stood up straighter. 'We're not having this conversation. If you hurt him, I'll never tell you anything, and you'll have to live the rest of your life not knowing my story.' It was a pretty lame attempt to convince him, but Athaya wasn't going to let Dean bully her, just because she thought of him as a friend.

Maybe not so friendly at that precise moment.

Dean stepped forward threateningly, but stopped as Crowley spoke for the first time since Athaya had revealed herself.

'If you so much as touch her, I'll rip your throat out,' Crowley said quietly and Dean snapped his head to the demon.

'What?' Dean frowned.

'Just giving you fair warning.' Crowley said evenly. 'Touch her and die.'

Dean tilted his head to the side. 'What the heck is that supposed to mean? Why would you care? Wouldn't you like her soul early?' Dean inquired, 'Not that I'd ever dream about hurting her, but why do _you_ care about her? Or haven't you made a deal yet?' he asked doubtfully.

Crowley laughed. 'Trust me when I say we've made a deal. Athaya and I go way back.'

Athaya opened her mouth in outrage, 'Thanks for breaking it to him _gently_, Crowley,' she growled at the demon, who shrugged and smiled.

Dean on the other hand, looked as if he were about to shoot someone. 'How could you do it?' he asked, disgust lacing his voice. 'How could you make a deal with a demon, Athaya?' He looked at her desperately, as if there was some hope for a reasonable explanation.

'You don't get to judge me, Dean,' Athaya scowled, knowing that she should just let him vent, but couldn't stand his repulsed tone. 'You hardly know me. You have no idea what my reasons were.'

Dean smiled tightly. 'Oh, but I can guess.' He walked towards her and grabbed her arm. 'Maybe you really liked a guy, maybe you wanted to be good at something, _maybe _you – '

'I will _kill _you, boy, unless you unhand her immediately,' Crowley interrupted from the chair, looking as if he were about to rip his arms from the table, regardless of the knives that were pinning them there.

As she stared at the two men, Athaya felt all her anger dissipate. It wasn't worth the heartache to choose a side. Dean had every right to be angry. She'd be angry too, if she found out her friend had made a deal with a demon. Crowley was just…being her_ dragon_, she thought with a smile. She sent Crowley a pleading look and covered Dean's hand with her own, where it gripped her arm tightly. 'Dean…I made a deal to save my brother,' she said quietly.

Dean faltered. 'You…,' he shook his head. 'That's still…That's not…' he attempted, but his voice had lost most of its conviction.

'Tell me there's nothing you wouldn't do for your brother,' Athaya implored. 'Go on. Tell me. What wouldn't you do for Sam?'

'That's unfair…It depends on the circumstan – ' Dean began, but was cut over by Athaya.

'It was my fault, Dean. My brother _died_ because of me. I had to fix it. I don't think there's a more appropriate circumstance than that.'

Dean's face fell. 'Come on. It wouldn't have been _your _fault. You might have blamed yourself, but was it really your fault?'

'Yes,' Athaya answered without hesitation and didn't miss the pitying look that Crowley threw her way. It _had _been her fault. If she hadn't gone in search of a demon, her brother would have lived. 'I left him alone, and he died. It was_ my_ fault.'

'Athaya…accidents happen.' Dean's voice was no longer condemning, more consoling. His grip on her arm loosened and Athaya saw sympathy in his eyes.

'I don't want your pity,' she said quietly, before cutting her gaze to Crowley. '_Either _of you. I can't change what I did. What happened, _happened, _and I fixed it.'

'But at what cost?' Dean asked. 'Your soul…Your soul is going to hell…'

'And I'd do it again, Dean,' Athaya said strongly, 'I'd sell my soul a thousand times before I let my little brother die. Even if it wasn't my fault – which it _was_ – I'd still save him. I'd go through hell a thousand times over before I'd accept his death, wouldn't _you_?'

Athaya saw Dean's eyes shift and his shoulders slumped. 'How old were you?' he asked dismally, accepting that Athaya irrefutably had a point. There was nothing Dean wouldn't do for Sam, and Athaya knew it.

'I was sixteen,' Athaya said and started making her way past Dean towards Crowley surreptitiously, edging around the room. She wanted to get the knives out of Crowley's arms. He must have been in agony.

Dean stiffened. 'Jesus, _sixteen?' _he exclaimed and spun to face Crowley. 'You made a deal with her when she was sixteen? She was just a _kid_. She wouldn't have known what she was doing!' Dean roared, enraged that the demon could have exploited Athaya when she was so young. Crowley – to his credit – managed to look disgusted whilst being speared to the chair.

'I know exactly how old she was,' Crowley almost sneered. 'And I'll have you know that I don't do children.'

'Well you did her!' Dean shouted and Crowley gave him a withering look.

'I don't make deals with people unable to understand the consequences of their actions, you idiot. Athaya was more than able to understand what she was getting herself into.' Crowley growled, becoming irritated now. 'And coincidently, I did _do_ her. Last night, in fact,' he grinned darkly and Athaya felt the atmosphere of the room freeze over.

She had just been about to attempt to remove the knives, but froze in shock at Crowley's words. As it turned out, she didn't have to worry about the knives. Dean's face was stony with rage as he leant over and ripped them out, drawing a howl of pain from Crowley as the blood started gushing from his wounds. Athaya yelped in surprise and quickly slipped off Crowley's shirt to rip it into strips to bind around his mangled arms, and Crowley winced as she did so.

Athaya gasped as she felt strong arms wrap around her middle, and she shrieked as Dean picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, carrying her away from Crowley, her makeshift bandages falling to the ground.

'Put her _down!' _Crowley roared, straining against his restraints. He didn't get very far, and Dean ignored the king of the crossroads as he carried Athaya out of the study and up the stairs.

'Put me down, Dean!' Athaya hollered and kicked him in the shoulder, pummelling his back with her fists as she did. Dean grunted and ignored her attacks until he came to a room upstairs, where he abruptly dumped her on the floor of one of the spare rooms. She scrambled to her feet and stood, panting and red in the face while he crossed his arms, blocking the door.

'What the hell is this?' Athaya blurted, righting her pyjamas and glaring at Dean.

'What the hell is this? What the hell was _that?' _Dean hissed and pointed back down the stairs. Athaya remained impassive and crossed her arms defiantly. She wasn't about to let him bully her.

'What's going on here, Athaya?' he implored. 'Did he really…Did you really…Did the two of you _actually_…?' He left the question open and stared hopelessly at her. Athaya felt the blood rush to her cheeks before her glare returned.

'What I do is none of your business – ' she began, but was cut over by Dean who strode across the room and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her slightly.

'You made it my business when a demon showed up at Bobby's house! Are you insane? He's a _demon_, Athaya. He owns your soul. And you _slept _with him?' Athaya couldn't escape the hurt and disgust that bored into her from Dean's green eyes and she felt a horrible guilt bubble up in her chest. She'd almost kissed Dean, after all, and then she went and spent the night with Crowley.

_Good job, Athaya. Now what are you gonna do? _She mocked herself.

Athaya put a hand on Dean's shoulder and shook her head. It was too much. She could either tell him to get stuffed, go downstairs (somehow getting past Dean) and free Crowley, _or _she could tell him the truth.

The latter option seemed not only easier, but meant that there was still a small possibility that Dean would actually speak to her again afterwards. Somehow, Athaya reasoned that if she left now, he'd never want to see her again.

'Dean…you need to understand, please…I'll explain everything, I promise,' Athaya implored him to understand, and she saw him hesitate slightly.

'What, there's _more?' _he asked incredulously.

Athaya sighed deeply. _There was so much more._


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: ****Heyyyyy everyone.**

**I'M SORRY.**

**Okay. Here comes the apology speech…I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages. I went away for a weekend (which was really fun) but then school was absolutely hectic for the following one and half weeks and then I got really sick. I've been feeling awful, and I'm still feeling like crap, but have managed to scrape myself together enough so that I could post a chapter. Two weeks late. **

**I think I'll only be able to manage one chapter a week now, coz school had been just so stressful, but I will definitely keep uploading. This story's still going strong, have no fear!**

**I also love you lots and lots and thank you so much for all the reviews! Hope you continue enjoying my work!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

Chapter Seventeen:

Athaya told Dean her story_._

By the time she was finished, Dean was silent. Athaya was sitting on the floor of the room, and Dean was perched on the edge of the bed.

'You…you have…_demon blood_ in you?' He asked for about the umpteenth time. Athaya smiled tightly and nodded.

'Yeah. And I've gotta say the perks aren't the best,' she said dully, leaning her head back on the draws she was sitting against.

'And by perks you mean…seeing the future? And having…_feelings?' _Dean surmised, running his hand over his jaw. He felt…tired. First Sam, now Athaya? This demon blood thing was getting out of hand.

'Basically. When I met Crowley for the first time, he told me what had happened. A demon killed my mum when I was a baby and then made me drink its blood. Hence my ability to experience premonitions and to know how events will turn out.' Dean wasn't the only one who felt tired, evidently. Athaya sounded exhausted, like she'd been dealing with this for too long. Dean supposed she had.

But why had she gone and slept with the demon?

It was completely irrelevant to their current conversation, but Dean couldn't help but feel hurt. There was an acidic feeling in his gut that told him that he cared too much. It shouldn't have worried him – Athaya had rejected his kiss, after all. She could spend time with whoever she wanted. However, these thoughts did nothing to prevent the horrible feeling that sat at the back of his chest and mind.

'So…' Dean tried to distract himself by changing the subject. 'This demon's called Azazel?' Athaya nodded mutely and Dean swore. 'Well crap.' Athaya's eyes swerved to Dean.

'Why crap?' she asked.

'We…We have a history. Azazel killed our parents.' Dean said quietly.

Athaya's eyes filled with pity, and while Dean would usually cringe at it, Athaya knew exactly what Dean had been through. Or thereabouts. That's why Dean didn't push her away when Athaya came and sat on the bed next to him, wrapping her arms around his chest in a tight hug.

'I'm sorry,' she said softly into Dean's shoulder. He remained still, not accepting or rejecting the embrace, just allowing it to exist. 'Did it happen when you were little?' she asked, leaning her chin on his shoulder. Dean jerked his chin in a nod.

'Yeah. Our Mom was killed when Sammy was just a baby. Dad died just this year. Both were killed by the demon,' he answered.

'Wait…' Athaya frowned. 'Then is Sam…?'

'Yeah,' Dean finished her sentence. 'He's got demon blood too.' Athaya barked out a laugh and Dean looked at her, confused. 'What?' he asked, surprised at her abrupt change in attitude.

'Oh, I had just been worrying that as soon as you found out about my demon blood, that you would have killed me. That's all.'

Dean was silent. He couldn't believe that Athaya had thought that. 'You…you really thought I'd kill you?' he asked, and winced at the hurt that was far too evident in his voice.

Athaya looked at him blankly. 'Of course I did, Dean. Answer me, honestly – if Sam didn't have demon blood…if you didn't know what it was like for _him_…would you let me live? Knowing that I had those kind of powers?'

'No,' came a different voice from the doorway. 'He wouldn't.'

Dean started at the sound of Crowley's voice and was on his feet in seconds, reaching to pull the demon blade from his pocket, but found it wasn't there. Athaya glanced up in surprise, but didn't look entirely alarmed.

'Looking for this, sunshine?' Crowley asked with a smile as he drew the dagger from the inside of his jacket. 'You left this on the table downstairs. Thanks for that, by the way.'

Athaya rolled her eyes, but Dean started planning how to get the knife away from the demon. As it turned out, he didn't have to plan for too long as Crowley tossed him the blade lazily. Dean's hand shot out instinctively and caught the knife by the hilt. Dean raised an eyebrow and Crowley shrugged.

'You won't hurt me with it,' Crowley speculated.

'And why not?' Dean inquired, gripping the blade tighter.

'Because if you hurt me, you'll upset her,' Crowley pointed at Athaya and grinned, but Athaya crossed her arms and stood firmly next to Dean.

'I wouldn't count on much of a reaction,' Athaya said, shrugging lightly.

'Oh, come now, Princess. What's got your knickers in a twist?' Crowley smiled.

'Oh, perhaps just the fact that you made an entirely horrible situation _worse_,' Athaya almost spat.

'I'm afraid I have utterly no idea what you're talking about, Princess,' Crowley said innocently.

Athaya narrowed her eyes but then Dean saw her gaze shift to Crowley's arms, which were steadily dripping blood on the carpet. The look of annoyance disappeared from Athaya's face and was replaced by one of gentle concern. Athaya sent one final glare at Crowley before walking over to help him

'We'll talk about this later,' she said and lifted one of his hands to gently examine his arm. Crowley winced slightly but remained silent. Dean couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

'You're just gonna help him?' Dean exclaimed, drawing Athaya's attention away from the wound and back to him.

Athaya's expression didn't change. 'Of course. He's hurt.' She said it so simply that Dean almost stopped his oncoming barrage of protest.

'…But two seconds ago you were all for me stabbing him…and…he's a _demon_,' he said, repeating his words from earlier.

Athaya shook her head slightly. 'Dean…Not _all_ of them are…' She trailed off as she searched for a word.

'Completely hideous? I'm living proof of that, darling.' Crowley grinned, winking at Athaya and Dean's glare intensifying considerably.

'…_Evil.' _Athaya concluded. 'They're not all evil.'

'I wouldn't be too sure about that, Princess. You just met me on a good day.' Crowley said with a wicked grin.

Dean finally tucked the knife away in his pocket and Athaya took that as a sign to continue her assessment of Crowley's wounds. She carefully peeled back his sleeve with delicate fingers and wiped away some of the blood with her thumb and forefinger. Dean couldn't help himself and let his curiosity get the better of him, and he peered over her shoulder to look at the thin hole in Crowley's arm.

It was wide, but had gone straight through. Dean suppressed a wince along with a twinge of sympathy. He was a demon, for crying out loud!

That still didn't stop the injuries from looking painful.

'You're lucky I'm a demon,' Crowley said. 'This human would be dead by now. I think you severed a few arteries. Word of advice: that kind of torture only works on things that won't die by ordinary means.'

'Note taken,' Dean murmured as he continued to watch Athaya, who was absorbed in wrapping the makeshift bandages around the king of the crossroads' arm. She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and Dean felt a pang of longing. Why was she so enamoured by Crowley?

'We should fix this properly,' Athaya turned to the Winchester and he raised an eyebrow. 'Dean, do you have that first aid kit?' Athaya inquired, wiping her hands clean of blood on her pyjamas gingerly.

'Yeah, sure. Downstairs. But if you think I'm letting you – ' Dean was cut across by Crowley, who pulled his arm from Athaya's grip.

'Don't worry about me, love. I'll be fine in an hour or so,' Crowley said demurely and smiled at Athaya, who visibly relaxed.

Dean felt sick.

'Alrighty then,' Dean blurted, attempting to break the atmosphere. Dean didn't know exactly _what _kind of atmosphere it was, but he didn't like it. It was far too…intimate. 'I'm gonna check in with Bobby and Sammy. See if they've killed this thing yet.'

Athaya's eyes snapped to Dean. 'They're out hunting Blakely?' she asked, her eyes widening.

'The ghost?' Crowley inquired along with her. Dean looked slightly taken aback.

'You know about Blakely?' Dean asked the demon, tilting his head to the side slightly.

'Of course I know about him. Why do you think I took Athaya in the first place? She'd just had her first premonition,' Crowley said, his tone brisk. 'Of her friend being _stabbed_ by the ghost,' he added.

'What?' Dean exclaimed, looking to Athaya. 'You saw…Chelsea?' That was Athaya's friend's name, right? The girl who'd been talking to Sam.

Athaya nodded mutely. 'I saw her get stabbed by Thomas. Back at work. We have to stop him, Dean.'

'Already done,' he said confidently. 'Sammy and Bobby should be getting back any minute now. But like I said, I'll give them a call, just in case.'

'Thanks,' Athaya gave him a small smile. 'I'm worried about them.'

'Why? D'you think something's gone wrong?' _Did you feel something? _Was Dean's unspoken question.

Athaya shook her head slowly. 'No…I can't tell. I think there's like a waiting period in between my visions where I don't feel anything. Except a bloody _huge_ headache,' she said bitterly. 'And I think the headaches lead up to new premonitions. I'm not sure, but I _think_ it's a vicious cycle. I'll just go from having headaches to having visions. The feelings start to come back when the premonition is about to come true. I felt that Crowley would have died if I didn't come with him and show myself to you. That's why I did' Athaya said, turning and looking at Crowley pointedly, who nodded silently.

Dean nodded. 'Right. I'll call them, then. You two behave…I'll be right back,' he promised as he left the room and stomped down the stairs, grabbing his phone and dialling Sam's number.

Sam didn't answer for the longest time, and Dean paced back and forth in the study. _C'mon Sammy. Pick up the damn phone. _Now that Athaya was worried, he was too.

After eleven rings, Sam answered.

'Jesus, answer the frikken phone, man,' Dean growled down the mouthpiece.

'Sorry Dean. We had some trouble.' Sam's voice sounded strained and Dean felt the worry settle in his stomach.

'What kind of trouble?' Dean asked apprehensively. 'Are you alright? Is Bobby alright?'

'We're fine. No problems on that account.' Dean heard Sam take a deep breath. 'But we couldn't kill it. Thomas Blakely's still here.'


	18. Chapter 18

**AN:**** Helllooooo everybody!**

**I am so super-duper-mega sorry that it has taken me (another) two weeks to update More intense stuff happened, and I thought I'd do some sharing.**

**First, I had three tests and four assignments due last week, which was only four days long, and I had to scramble to get everything done.**

**The reason for scrambling was that I went to Oz Comic Con (IT WAS SO AMAZING AND FABULOUS) and I couldn't do any homework last weekend.**

**But, (and I sincerely hope there are some Sherlock fans reading this, or you at least know who he is) I MET BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH! **

***screams in happiness***

**He was so nice, and lovely, and just…**

**Let me tell you how the conversation went:**

**Ben: "Hi, how are you?"**

**Me: "Yes."**

***slams head on table***

**Yes? **_**Yes? **_**"Hi, how are you?" – "Yes."**

**Great job there, Fen. Truly, you have demonstrated how brilliant you are with words. Good luck being a writer! :P**

**However, the dreaded "Yes" was followed closely by a murmured "I mean, I'm good thanks." So I **_**kinda **_**amended it. Kinda.**

**I am a failure.**

**But oh, well! I got a photo with him, and I was relatively pleased with it I didn't blink or anything horrible, so yay!**

_***MILD SPOILERS FOR NEWEST EPISODES OF SUPERNATURAL***_

**Anyway, onto all things Supernatural, I may end up playing with the plot line a little – sorry – because I'm not sure if any of you have seen the recent episodes, but they really pissed me off. Especially the one with Crowley. THAT IS NOT HOW YOU TREAT THE KING OF HELL!**

**So, we'll just ignore that little escapade and accept the story-line that I present, which mostly involves Crowley **_**not**_** being a blood-junkie. Because that was just not cool. Also keep in mind, we're still only somewhere in season 2, so there's a while to go. **

**But, Crowley's still awesome and fabulous in my story, so huzzah! **

_***MILD SPOILERS OVER***_

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, it's really, really long, so I hope you appreciate all the work I put into it! It was a lot of fun and I just want to say – thank you so very much to all my reviewers! You're all being so lovely and kind and I'm so glad that you like my story **

**Also, thanks to anyone who has been reading, it makes me happy to see the numbers rise. **

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**xxx**

**~Fen~**

Chapter Eighteen:

As soon as Dean left, Athaya turned on Crowley.

'You idiot! Why would you bait him like that? What were you thinking?' she demanded, all concern about his injuries gone.

'I was thinking that I had just been stabbed by a rather irritating hunter and wanted to wipe the smug grin off the bastard's face,' Crowley growled. Athaya seemed to weigh this for a moment before letting it go.

'Fine. I guess you _may _have had a reason to be angry,' she said with mild amusement. 'But do you know how hard it was to sit there and say nothing? While he tortured you?'

'Do you know how hard it was to sit there, knowing that you were going to reveal yourself anyway?' Crowley challenged and Athaya felt a blush blossom on her cheeks.

'That's beside the point, Crowley,' she began, but stopped as Crowley grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. His fingers dug into her arms and she winced slightly.

'It's absolutely the point, Princess,' he said quietly, his voice hoarse. 'I thought…' he paused to clear his throat. 'I _thought _he was going to kill you. I wouldn't have been able to stop it.'

'But he didn't,' Athaya said and slipped one of her hands over his where they grasped her arm tightly. His fingers loosened slightly, but didn't move from where they were. 'We both took a chance. You would have died if I remained silent, and I might have died when I spoke,' Athaya continued.

'I don't…' Crowley seemed to search for words. 'I don't like not being in control.'

'So I've noticed,' Athaya smiled coyly and Crowley shook her slightly.

'I'm _not_ joking, Athaya.' The use of her actual name gave her pause, and Athaya's smile dropped. Crowley looked at her with pained eyes. 'I don't know what I would have done if you died.'

'That's not true,' Athaya said quietly.

'You're right,' Crowley agreed. 'I know _exactly _what I would have done. I would have killed the boy,' he nodded towards the door Dean had walked through. 'And then I would have slaughtered anyone he ever held dear.'

Athaya felt a shiver travel down her spine. She knew Crowley was telling the truth. She could feel it. She shook her head in protest. 'Don't…don't promise that. That's not what I'd want you to – ' Athaya was silenced by a hand over her mouth.

'I hate to tell you this, Princess, but I don't really think I'd care about what _you'd _want me to do. I'd do whatever made me feel better,' Crowley said darkly.

Athaya used her free hand to pull his away from her face. 'Even if it was only a temporary relief?' she asked and ran her fingers over his thumb gently in soothing circles. Despite this, he nodded.

'Of course. I made you a promise. I promised that I wouldn't let you die. At least not until the time comes.' Crowley brought his hand to her face and mimicked the motions she'd been making on his thumb gently across her cheek. 'I've never broken a deal. If someone else were the cause of my breaking a deal – especially yours – I think it's fairly safe to assume I'd go to extensive lengths for revenge.'

It wasn't an assumption. It was a promise. It was Crowley's promise to Athaya. That if someone hurt her, he'd never rest until they suffered.

Athaya felt a dull ache in her chest. She felt helpless. She didn't want more people to be hurt if she died and Crowley decided to start a bloody vendetta. 'You don't have to do that, Crowley…You really don't,' she tried weakly. He looked at her with dark, stern eyes.

'Of course I do, Princess,' he whispered. 'I'm your dragon.'

The beginnings of a smile played at Athaya's lips. 'Yes, you are.'

'And I'd be a pretty shoddy dragon if I couldn't protect my princess,' Crowley smirked.

'And by protect, you mean – '

'Keep you to myself. But of course.' A playful note had seeped into Crowley's tone and Athaya relaxed slightly. 'Speaking of which,' Crowley grinned and kissed her quickly on the lips. After a moment, Athaya rolled her eyes and stepped away from him, glancing up at the clock on the wall.

'I hope Sam and Bobby managed to kill Blakely,' Athaya murmured to herself.

'I'm sure they did, Princess,' Crowley soothed and Athaya smiled.

'You'd say anything to make me happy, wouldn't you?' she joked, pulling down a random book from an overflowing shelf to distract herself.

'I would at that,' he agreed and laughed. Athaya smiled to herself and put the book back with a sigh. Nothing could distract her.

'I'm going to call Chelsea,' Athaya decided and went to pull her phone out to find she had no pockets. 'I need to go downstairs to get my phone,' she said and walked over to the door.

'Alright. I'll wait here. Don't want to risk another run in with your not-so-friendly live-in hunter friend.'

'He's not that bad!' Athaya called behind her as she slid down the stairs quietly. When she came to a stop at the base of the steps, she paused, her good mood evaporating as she saw Dean's face. 'What?' she asked, 'What's wrong?'

Dean held his phone in his hand and turned it over and over, a haunted look in his eyes. 'Athaya…they couldn't…they didn't kill Blakely,' he said roughly. 'They couldn't. They tried every trick in the book. They even burnt all the possessions they brought back here before they left, just in case, but when they got there, nothing they did damaged him.

Athaya felt cold.

'But they…' she began. 'That means they…Chelsea!' she gasped and rushed to find her phone.

'Whoa, whoa, calm down, Athaya,' Dean said and put his hands on her shoulders. 'Sammy's with her right now. Bobby too, although he's more of a background observer.'

'What are they doing?' Athaya asked.

'Sammy's taken Chelsea out on a date. Or thereabouts. Bobby's keeping a close eye on her from another table. They're not even at the bar. They're on the other side of town.'

'Well, then we've got to go now!' Athaya exclaimed. 'While Chelsea's gone! While no one's in danger! Quick, I'll grab my bag, you go get – '

'Not a chance, Athaya,' Dean said, staring at her meaningfully.

'And what the hell's that supposed to mean?' Athaya growled, putting her hands on her hips, her frantic mood evaporating to be replaced by one of irritation.

'It means, Princess, that we're not letting you within a ten mile radius of Thomas Blakely,' came Crowley's voice from the bottom of the stairs. Athaya spun and scowled at him.

'We're kind of already within a ten mile radius, Crowley,' she snapped, hating how the two of them were ganging up on her.

'It's not up for debate, _Princess,' _Dean mocked both Athaya, who proceeded to glare at the hunter viciously.

'Only I get to call her that, boy,' Crowley seethed, and Athaya felt hope spark, maybe they would argue and one of them would take her side? 'But…' Crowley continued, and Athaya felt her heart drop. '_But_, that's beside the point. Blakely's going after girls.'

'So that means you're not getting involved, Athaya,' Dean summed up and crossed his arms defensively, stepping in front of the door.

Athaya's mouth dropped. 'You're not…you're both not _seriously _thinking of making me stay behind?' she asked, catching onto that they had every intention of doing so.

'Well…someone's gotta make sure this thing dies,' Dean said. 'Sammy and Bobby are looking after Chelsea, so I vote that one of us go after it. And as the only hunter present…' Dean left his proposition open and Crowley nodded.

'I utterly concur,' Crowley agreed, smoothing down his jacket as the situation started to lose the element of chaos and gain some order. 'Pretty boy, you go take care of Casper the not-so-friendly ghost and I'll babysit Athaya here.'

'Excuse me?' Athaya asked, outraged. They were talking as if she weren't there. 'I'm right here, you know?'

'Oh, really? I hadn't noticed, Princess,' Crowley raised an eyebrow that suggested any attempt of refusing would be foolish and useless.

Athaya felt anger bubble up inside her and she remembered the ring on her finger. She whispered quietly 'Hide,' smiling as she disappeared from the reflection in a mirror on a wall. Dean straightened and looked around for her while she slipped to the outskirts of the room, planning on going out the back door.

She stopped when a very unamused-looking Crowley appeared out of thin air in front of her, grabbing her invisible arm and pulling her to a halt.

'Sorry, Princess, but if you're going to disappear, better not do it using my ring. I made the spell._ I_ can still see you,' he said swiftly as he pulled the ring from her finger and pocketed it. Athaya glared at him as he kissed her on the cheek and chuckled. 'Don't frown, Princess. I'm just a dragon doing my job.'

Her glare didn't fade.

Dean spun to find Athaya scowling at Crowley and he laughed. 'Well that solves that problem. I'll be back soon, alright?' Dean turned to grab his bag and started shoving various things into it, gradually filling the duffel to the brim with various weapons and whatnot.

'No!' Athaya exploded. 'It's not okay, actually! I demand to com – ' Athaya's words were whisked away as Crowley transported them to another place.

Athaya stumbled away from him and grabbed a bookshelf for support. They were in a library of some kind. '_Crowley!_' she shrieked, not skipping a beat, clenching her hands into fists. He had the good grace to look mildly guilty.

'Listen, Princess,' Crowley said, turning around to take in the sight of the library. It was beautiful, with dark red carpets, large plush chairs and huge paintings that dotted the walls every so often. 'If I hadn't done something, you would have somehow snuck out sooner or later, so I just took an opportunity to – _Oi!_ '

Crowley was lucky he turned around when he did, or he would've completely missed the book that went flying towards his head. He ducked swiftly and a look of concerned incredulity flashed across his face as his gaze followed the path of the book. It continued sailing through the air until it hit a wall, thudding against it and sliding down the floor. Crowley turned his gaze back to Athaya. 'I'll have you know, that was a rather expensive second edition of – '

He didn't get to finish, as another book went flying towards his head.

Once again, Crowley ducked and stood up, looking mildly irritated. 'I'd appreciate it if you didn't destroy my library, Princess.'

'And I'd appreciate it if you let me do my job properly. If we both agree, perhaps this first edition of Charles Dickens won't end up on the floor next to Tolkien and Bronte? Does that sound like a plan?' Athaya threatened, raising the embellished book slightly above her shoulder.

Crowley's eyes narrowed to slits and he appeared at Athaya's elbow in an instant, ripping the book from her grasp and pinning her arms to her side. Without blinking, he transported them to another room. This one was far less luxurious than the library, and instead of red carpets and plush chairs, here the walls and floor were stone and damp, with only one chair in the centre of the room, leather straps attached to the wooden arms and legs.

Crowley gestured around. 'We can stay here, if you'd like, but I'm not taking you back to Sioux Falls. Or my library, for that matter.'

Athaya felt a twinge of guilt for throwing the books at him, but in the grand scheme of things, helping her friend was much more important than a few first editions, never mind how expensive or rare they were. She absorbed the new room silently, and realised what it was probably used for. 'Showing me your torture room isn't going to scare me,' she snapped. 'I'm sorry about the books, but seriously, Crowley, I've got a bad feeling about all this. Something's going to go wrong.'

This gave Crowley pause. 'Really? You're not just saying that?' he inquired warily.

Athaya set her jaw in a semi-permanent glare and threw her hands in the air. 'Of course I'm not lying. I've had a headache for the last half an hour. It's getting worse and worse, and I can tell something is going to happen with Chelsea, or Dean, or Sam, or Bobby! I can't tell which one, but something's going to go _wrong_, Crowley!' A desperation had crept into her voice, and it was almost as if her headache worsened with it, too. It felt like a thousand tiny soldiers were marching around inside her head, banging on drums and preparing for warfare. She tried to push it aside and focussed on Crowley.

Really focussed on him.

She took everything in, his tense stance, the way he clutched the book in his right hand tightly, his dark eyes that revealed his concern, despite the slight scowl he wore on his face. Finally, she noted the way his body was locked, other hand clenched in fist, directly facing her. Could Athaya get him to take her back?

You bet she could.

Athaya walked over to him and picked up his free hand, holding it gently between her two slender ones. She saw his frown shift to a look of curiosity as she stared straight into his eyes before taking a deep breath.

'Please. _Please, _Crowley. You know what this means to me. I…I need to help them. Someone is going to _die_,' she pleaded and saw his face soften.

He shook his head slightly. 'Princess, you're not worth the risk,' he murmured quietly, leaning his forehead against hers gently. 'This isn't going to help anyone,' he said, although to Athaya, his tone sounded doubtful.

'You know it will, Crowley,' she whispered. She willed him to help her, implored him to see reason. 'They mean a lot to me, and I know they might not to you, but for me, it would be – ' Athaya stopped as Crowley placed a finger over her lips, his dark eyes smouldering intensely. Athaya felt her headache slam against her skull, but ignored it, taking in every detail of Crowley, trying to see what his reaction would be.

'Hush. I'm thinking,' he said quietly and Athaya felt her heart soar.

He would do it! She knew he would. Athaya kissed him on the lips gently and felt him smile. He pulled away with a groan and rolled his eyes. 'Fine,' he growled. 'I'll take you back. But only to Bobby's house. We'll figure out what to do from there, but if we can get Dean or of the others to do kill Blakely, then we'll get _them _to do it. Understand?'

Athaya nodded happily and smiled as they appeared back in Bobby's study. She glanced around for her phone and realised that Dean must have picked it up from where she'd dropped it when Crowley had whisked her away. She walked into the kitchen to see if her phone was there, and on the way, passed by a framed picture, the clear glass showing Athaya her own reflection. She stopped dead when something caught her eye.

She walked closer to the picture to inspect her reflection and her eyes widened in fear as she saw a few drops of blood trail down to her lips from her nose. She wiped them away hastily and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear to see that blood was also dripping from them. She dabbed the offending red away quickly and cast a cautious look behind her, but Crowley had his back to her, and was looking at a book of some kind. Athaya sighed in relief. If Crowley saw the blood, he'd never let her help anyone. He'd worry too much about her.

_It's just a headache and a little nose bleed. A nose bleed's not so bad, _she tried to console herself.

_ It is if it's coming from your ears, _the more practical part of her mind scolded.

_Whatever. Chelsea needs me, _Athaya resolved and shook all contradictory thoughts from her head. She closed her eyes to see if she could feel anything about what was going to happen to her friends, and came up blank.

Athaya sighed and found her phone in the kitchen, picking it up and checking for any missed calls. None. She made a sound of frustration and thought frantically. What could she do to help?

She replayed all of her conversations with Dean over in her head, trying to pay attention to anything concerning Blakely. After a few moments, a particular thought sparked in her mind.

_ "They burnt all the possessions they brought back here before they left, just in case," _she remembered Dean saying and she wracked her brain as to why that would stand out. She couldn't figure it out. They would have just used the fireplace to destroy his things, right?

Athaya ran to the fireplace and saw nothing. No scraps of remains, no _anything_ whatsoever that alluded to them using the fireplace for burning Thomas Blakely's possessions.

She pulled her phone out and dialled Dean's number, but it rang out. She snarled in frustration and Crowley looked up from his book. 'What's wrong, Athaya?' he asked, putting the large tome down and walking over to her.

'I need to know where Sam and Bobby burnt Blakely's things,' she said.

'Why?' Crowley inquired and Athaya spun around in a circle, holding her head, trying to determine why it was important. She didn't _know_. She _felt_.

'I just feel it, that's why,' she said exasperatedly, as a thousand thoughts flew past her mind. Thomas Blakely, Charlotte Sanders, Bobby, Sam, Dean, Crowley, _Chelsea,_ Blakely's possessions, the portrait of Blakely, the bar, the –

Blakely's portrait.

_Oh. Oh! _

Athaya gave a small shriek of realisation and Crowley arched his eyebrow in question.

'It's the ring,' she explained turning to him and grabbing his arms as she smiled.

'What ring?' he asked, missing the relevance. 'The ring I gave you? That has nothing to do with – '

'I know. Not that ring, _Blakely's _ring!' Athaya exclaimed and grabbed her phone, this time dialling Sam's number. No answer. 'Oh for _Christ's _sake!' she groaned. 'Why won't anyone answer their bloody phones?'

'I have utterly no idea, sweetheart,' Crowley said and put a hand on her arm. Athaya warmed at the use of the word "sweetheart", but it was Crowley's next words that caught her attention. 'But, if I were them and I hadn't burnt his possessions in the fireplace, I would have burnt them outside.'

_Outside. _

Athaya pecked him on the cheek, grabbing a torch from her backpack lying next to the couch and sprinting towards the door. Her bad feeling was getting even worse, and she started to panic that she couldn't save Chelsea. After all, every other prophecy she'd seen or felt had come true.

_No. _Athaya refused to let these thoughts overwhelm her and she burst out of the back door, racing through the maze of cars to find wherever Sam and Bobby had burnt Blakely's possessions.

'Athaya!' she heard Crowley call out from somewhere behind her. She'd completely forgotten he was there, despite talking to him seconds earlier.

'I'm out here,' she yelled back, using the torch to shine through the air, searching for any residual smoke that might show where they'd made the fire. She couldn't find anything and sighed in frustration.

_Come on, come on, come on! _

After another few minutes of searching, she realised how spooky it was out in the car-yard during night-time. It was quite cold, and she was wearing nothing other than her silk pyjamas.

_Should have thought about that ten minutes ago. _

Athaya shivered and tried to ignore how the broken down and rusting cars almost looked like faces, grinning eerily at her in the moonlight, the open hoods looking so much like the gaping maws of monsters waiting to chew her up. She flinched when a bird flew past her somewhere to the right and marvelled at her own skittishness.

_Athaya. It's just the dark. Just a bird. Just some old, rusty, broken cars._

As Athaya consoled herself, she almost completely missed the large circle of ashes to her left and stumbled over a half-charred branch, catching herself before she fell. Her eyes lit up as she spotted the now-cold bonfire site and shone her torch on the ground, frantically searching for the item she knew the hunters must have missed.

Her movements stopped when she saw a glint of silver amongst the ashes, and she bent down to reach for them. 'Hey, Crowley!' she called. 'I think I found it!'

Athaya thrust her hands into the ash and when she pulled them back, they were utterly grey and black, but clutching a silver ring. It was the same ring she had seen in Blakely's portrait, when she'd had her vision of Chelsea dying. Blakely had been wearing it then, and now she pulled it from the ashy remnants of the small box that Sam and Bobby had brought back with them. Obviously they hadn't known about the box's contents, otherwise they would have found another way to destroy the ring.

Athaya heard footsteps behind her and stood up to turn around, smiling widely as she clasped the ring triumphantly in her hands. Her smile faded as she saw that it was not Crowley behind her.

It was a man with yellow eyes.

**AN:**** Duhn duhn daaaahhhhhhhh!**

**Ultimate cliff hanger, I know – sorry! It's just that I thought I'd leave with a biggie, after being absent for so long. **

**HOWEVER**

**I promise to update sooner this time. I've got a couple of weeks holiday, and that should give me time to get something things sorted – plot-wise – and write more than I usually would. Either way: happy cliff hanger feels!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	19. Chapter 19

**AN:**** Hi guys! Here's another update – yay! **

**WE HIT 50 REVIEWS!**

**Ahhhhhhh! It makes me so happy :D Thank you so much for all the support. I'm glad people are liking the story! Since this is my first fic and everything, it certainly makes a girl happy!**

**Alas, I am going away for a week, so this may be my last update until next Tuesday, but I'm going to try and work on it over the weekend, so I can update **_**as soon as I get back! **_

**Thank you for all my wonderful reviewers – to: Scattered Kaleidoscope, AlyssaB88, MArloweee1856, KatieMarrie, AnnieMouse, Alexandraya, Me, GoodAngelGoneBad, sdevil, Hannah Skywalker- Jedi Padawan, esdertytg, , NoName, Guest, Guest1234, Guests, JanyMarie and every single one of you who reads!**

**Please don't hesitate to ask me anything/review. It makes me happy!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

Chapter Nineteen:

Dean's phone was dead.

Whenever he tried to call Athaya, Sam or Bobby, nothing happened. It rang, but it just rang out. It couldn't be that _all _of them were busy, so Dean just concluded that it was his own phone.

_One day technology will work, _he thought to himself as he crept through the back of the bar, shining his metal torch along the walls, keeping as silent as possible. While his left hand held the torch, his right firmly grasped a shotgun. He sorely missed Sam, as that mean he'd have to drop the torch in order to shoot anything. But hey – them's the brakes.

Dean made his way along the rooms, looking for anything that would tell him where Blakely was. On the way there, he'd called Sammy to get the details, although his younger brother had insisted there was nothing Dean could do to help kill Blakely.

To Dean's dismay, he'd found out that the reason Sam and Bobby hadn't been able to kill Blakely was because the ghost never showed up. Chelsea had been at the bar, working, the perfect unsuspecting bait, but after the entire day of waiting, Sam and Bobby had called it in, opting to get Chelsea as far away from the ex-brothel as possible, just in case Blakely decided to show. They were currently on the other side of town, Sam treating Chelsea to dinner while Bobby looked over old newspapers and articles close by, anything that could tell them why Blakely had been a no-show.

Dean wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for. Anything that Sam and Bobby might have missed. Something that Blakely might be attached to. He found nothing of interest in any of the rooms. Unfortunately, everything was too new. Dean was scouting for old things, from the 1920's or before.

He finally came to an old office room, and was about to leave when his gaze fell on an old portrait hanging above a desk. Dean guessed it was Blakely, from the style and age of it, and he squinted in the gloom to make out the well-dressed shape that formed Thomas Blakely.

_Well, there's something they missed._

Dean pulled the painting down and carried it out back the way he had come, around the back of the building, where the bitumen ground had less chance of igniting, and was out of sight of the public eye. He squirted a bottle of highly flammable…stuff on the painting and unearthed a matchbook from the bottom of his duffel. He lit a match and tossed it on the painting, watching as the flames danced across the surface, licking up the frame and across Thomas Blakely's torso.

Dean's attention was caught by a band encircling a finger on Thomas's hand.

_A ring? I don't remember seeing Sam or Bobby bring a ring in. _

Blakely's funeral had been a cremation, so if he'd been wearing the ring, it might not have been destroyed. Maybe it had been given to family? But Bobby had looked into that. All Blakely owned had been donated to the refurbishing of the brothel into a bar. That _would_ explain the boxes of things lying around. Maybe they hadn't processed everything. Blakely had been a rich man.

But then why wasn't his ghost at the bar now?

* * *

Athaya felt her stomach drop and froze, her fist tightening around the tarnished silver ring in her palm. She felt sick to her very core and realised with dull surprise that her headache had been gone for a few minutes. She only realised because it was starting to come back.

'So you're…_Athaya_,' the man said with a cold smile.

'So you're…the filthy demon who killed my mother and turned me into a monster,' Athaya growled with more bravery than she thought she possessed. _Good job. Now he'll be pissed._

_Or not._

'My, my. Such fire. I can tell I chose you _very_ well,' Azazel almost crowed and Athaya resisted the urge to fling herself at him. How dare he talk about her so casually? He almost made it sound intimate.

'You really think so? Well think again. Whatever plans you have for me, forget it. I'll have no part in them,' Athaya said defiantly, standing her ground, refusing to be intimidated.

'I hardly think you have a choice, my dear,' Azazel smiled. 'Your time here is up. Time to embrace your destiny,' he said, lifting his arms to the sky slightly.

'Like hell,' Athaya spat and took a few steps backwards. She had no weapons, no defences, not even proper _clothing. _If she could just keep him talking, Crowley would find her. She just had to stop him from taking action too soon. 'Why now?' she asked, stalling for time. 'Why now, after all these years? I've been doing my research. You usually take your _'children' _at twenty-two. What's so special about me? You're over two years late,' she said cockily, tilting her head to the side.

Azazel laughed. 'And she has a sense of humour. Brilliant. You'll do very nicely. Although we might need to fix that mouthy attitude of yours.' He started walking towards her, slowly, like a predator stalking its prey. 'And in answer to your question, I have two reasons: One – you were part of my test-batch. Before I started in the big leagues, I had to do some little…experiments. You're part of the first group, all of which died at some point or another.' Azazel frowned sadly. 'I must say, they all had _remarkably _bad luck for children so…gifted,' by the end pf his sentence, his frown had morphed into a sickening smile.

'You…you _killed _them?' Athaya nearly choked in realisation. 'W-why?' she stuttered. She'd thought he was evil, creating such monsters, but then killing them? What could justify that?

'Well, for starters, they mostly had different amounts of my blood given to them. That produced a varying range of results, and actually, those with too little of my blood died within a few weeks. It was the ones with slightly more – like yourself – that I was more concerned about. They brought a powerful contrast to the group, and contrast is never good when you want to obtain world-domination through grunt forces. Who knows? Maybe one of you would have risen up against me. That's why I settled for the middle 'prescription', if you will,' he said with a shrug.

'But you killed…_all _of them. Even the ones who had the…the '_prescription' _you wanted.' Athaya tried to understand his reasoning. What could he gain from killing them all?

'Oh, that?' Azazel sighed. 'That was just for fun,' he chuckled darkly and Athaya felt weak at the knees. This guy was nuts. His yellow eyes bored into her and Athaya took another step backwards.

_Where are you Crowley? _She thought desperately.

'And then there was you. That _other _reason I was talking about. You've been quite naughty, Athaya,' he said with a wicked grin. 'Making a deal with a crossroads demon? I have no idea what the deal specified, but you've been utterly untouchable. Although as it turns out…that's been rather beneficial.'

'And why's that?' Athaya asked, skirting to the other side of the bonfire remains as Azazel got too close for comfort.

Azazel looked at the increased gap between them and shook his head sadly. 'Athaya, you wound me. But…you're going to be quite handy, I suspect. I can see big things in the future for you.'

'What kind of things?' she asked.

'Well…being the general of my army, for one,' he laughed. 'You've got more experience than any of my other children. For some reason, whatever trick you pulled with that demon…it's delayed the age at which you'd normally feel the full effects of my blood. Normally, at twenty-two you should have had your first premonition. But no…you're quite a mystery, popping up two years late.'

'How did you know where to find me?' Athaya asked as they continued their deadly dance, Athaya seeking to get as far away from Azazel as possible, but never gaining more than a few metres before he closed the gap.

'Well, first you had your premonition the other day. That set off all sorts of alarm bells.' Azazel edged slightly closer. 'But what it really was…Was what happened just now.'

'_What_ happened just now?' Athaya asked, and almost screamed when she felt a hand on her arm.

_Crowley. _

He must have used her ring to make himself appear invisible. She tried to stop her grin from showing and felt a surge of courage. He was right there. He wouldn't let Azazel take her.

'Well…you controlled that demon. The one you were talking to,' he said, as if it were obvious.

Athaya felt her heart stop.

'…W-what?' she asked, certain she had misheard.

'You obviously wanted it to do something. I felt our connection spark. You wanted him to do something, and so manipulated his feelings into controlling him. Or…his decisions, rather,' Azazel explained.

'That wasn't…No. I just talked to him…' Athaya murmured, confused. She felt the hand on her arm tighten slightly.

'Did you? Did you really? They say actions speak louder than words, but I do believe you're the exception, Athaya. You thought that 'feeling' things and seeing the future was the extent of your powers? Not even close, darling. You have untold potential. You,' Azazel exclaimed, 'have the power to control peoples' feelings! Just think of what you could do!' Azazel walked over to her and Athaya was too dumbstruck to move away in time. 'You manipulated that demon like he was your puppet,' Azazel grinned and Athaya felt Crowley's grip on her arm loosen.

_No. _

_Oh, god. _He was leaving her. He was going to leave her because she had controlled him. She'd manipulated him and now Crowley was going to let Azazel take Athaya. She felt the beginnings of tears well up behind her eyes.

Crowley's arm vanished from her side completely and Athaya had to hold in an audible gasp. It was like a limb had been torn off, and now a gaping hole existed somewhere close to her heart. That severing of connection between the two of them left Athaya completely alone.

Completely alone, and at Azazel's mercy.

'You have the power to control armies!' Azazel grabbed her arms and Athaya almost thought he would embrace her. 'Are you ready to take your final tests?' he asked, instead shaking her slightly.

_Final tests? _Athaya's brain thought hazily through all its panic. _What final tests?_

All she could think was that Crowley had left her. Her dragon had left her.

She couldn't stop her tears from falling and Azazel noticed. 'What's wrong, honey?' he asked, his voice sickly sweet. 'Don't cry. It's the beginning of a better world, and I'm giving you the opportunity to stand up front and have one of the best seats in the house.'

Athaya let out a strangled sob and tried to take a step back, instead colliding full-on with an old car. She stumbled to the ground and looked up at Azazel with wide eyes, knowing that he was about to take her to a place where there were no dragons, no princesses and no happy endings for anyone.

'I'm sorry,' she whispered quietly, praying that Crowley was still nearby to hear her. She needed him to know that she hadn't meant to control him. It had been an accident. 'Please don't hate me,' she croaked and reached behind her to pull a loose strip of rusty metal from the ground. There was no way in hell that Athaya was going to let Azazel turn her into some unfeeling, demon-spawn-general.

With a swift movement, Athaya plunged the shard of metal deep into her chest, screaming as she felt it puncture her skin, slide between bones and stab god knows what else. Azazel's mouth dropped in an 'O' of surprise and he reached out to grab her arm, just in time to knock it aside from any vital organs.

Seconds later, he was thrown backwards by an invisible force, sailing through the air until he left Athaya's line of sight.

Athaya felt her vision swim and she choked on the pain that spread out from under her rib cage.

_Fucking bastard made me miss_.

She was briefly aware that she could see Crowley, dressed in all black, shouting something to her, but it was like he was too far away to hear. He came closer and knelt beside her, taking her head in his lap.

Now he was closer, Athaya could hear him perfectly. 'What the hell do you think you're doing?' he roared at her and she flinched as he ripped the metal from her stomach. His furious gaze softened and he smoothed a stray lock of hair away from her face, wiping away the blood that was leaking down her chin. 'What on earth possessed you to do something so idiotic and foolish?' he asked sadly.

Athaya struggled to talk. 'You…left me. I controlled…you. You hated…me…Azazel…he was going to take me away,' she gasped and Crowley shook his head.

'You idiot. I was going to get _help_. I've got two hellhounds who are currently keeping Azazel _very _busy,' he growled, acid lacing his voice. 'I had everything sorted. Why did you have to go and do a stupid thing like this?' he asked desperately, attempting to staunch the blood with his hands, and not getting very far.

Athaya felt her brain spark and realised what she'd done.

_Idiot. _

'Sorry…' she managed, 'Didn't know…Guess I'm a pretty…stupid princess after all,' she murmured, echoing Crowley's words from the other morning.

'That you are,' Crowley growled and helped her sit up. Athaya winced and gasped as she felt her organs shift in a very unhealthy way.

'Oh my _god.' _She bit back a low moan and sat up straight, resting her head on Crowley's shoulder. She felt him grab her arm and lift her up before pausing. 'Why aren't we moving?' she asked gruffly. She really wanted to fix the hole in her tummy. It hurt more than a little.

'Shit,' Crowley swore, looking down at the ground and Athaya followed his gaze, giving a small scream of pain and frustration as she saw half a devil's trap sticking out from the car they were standing in front of. Azazel must have just missed it.

'_Bobby!' _Athaya cursed and bent down to scratch the faded paint with her shoe.

She didn't get a chance.

Athaya screamed as she was ripped away from Crowley, dragged across the small clearing by some kind of powerful force. It felt like a hand was gripping her shoulder and she felt sharp nails pierce the sensitive skin of her neck.

_Azazel. _

She gasped in pain as her wounded stomach scraped along the ground and Crowley yelled her name, reaching out his hand too late. Athaya spun onto her back in the dirt and turned to see not Azazel…

But Thomas Blakely.

* * *

Dean called Sam as soon as he figured out it was the ring. Sam – for once – answered on the second ring.

_'What's up?' _Sam's voice sounded over Dean's mobile.

'It's the ring,' Dean said, ignoring his brother's question. He was in his car, ready to go wherever the conversation would lead him.

_'What's the ring?' _Sam asked.

'I was looking around the bar, searching through some of the old rooms, and I found this old portrait of Blakely.'

_'Well, did you burn it?_' Sam inquired, and Dean rolled his eyes.

'Of course I burnt it. Am I _not_ a competent hunter?' he asked rhetorically, then frowned. 'Wait, don't answer that.'

Sam laughed and then focused. _'So what was that about a ring?'_

'Did you find one?' Dean asked. 'I'm guessing that you didn't, since you don't know what I'm talking about.'

_'Uh, no…'_ Sam said and Dean swore. _'What? What's wrong?'_ Sam asked, hearing his brother's distress.

'It's just...did you burn something that would fit a ring in it?' Dean asked.

_'Uh…I guess? Yeah, actually. There was this one box, but it was empty. Bobby and I checked it.'_

Dean mulled this over. 'You sure?' he asked. 'No hidden compartments?'

_'Come on, Dean. This isn't Mission Impossible,' _Sam laughed. _'We found a small box that was empty. Sure, maybe it could have had a ring in it once, but not anymore, I – Oh. Yeah, Chelsea?' _It sounded like Sam was being interrupted. Dean could faintly hear a female murmuring on the other end of the phone.

'What is it, Sammy?' Dean asked, frustrated that he couldn't hear the conversation.

_'Wait a sec,' _implored Sam. More murmuring. _'Oh, really? Thanks Chelsea.' _Dean could hear the smile in Sam's voice and was pretty sure the torrent of murmurings that followed were the outcome of a very flustered Chelsea being charmed by Sam's praise.

_You have no idea, do you, Sammy? _Dean thought to himself. The girl was obviously infatuated.

Dean pushed these amusing thoughts aside and focused. 'What is it, Sam?' he almost snapped, growing impatient at his brother's silence. 'What did Chelsea say?'

_'Chelsea…she, uh,'_ Sam sounded slightly embarrassed and murmured something quietly under his breath, so softly that Dean missed it.

'What was that?' Dean asked suspiciously.

_ 'She…Chelsea said…she – '_

'Spit it out, Sammy!' Dean growled and Sam sighed.

_'She said there was a secret compartment in the box,'_ he said quietly.

Dean roared with laughter and heard Sam chuckle slightly. 'So it _is _Mission Impossible?' Dean joked after he caught his breath. 'How did she know what we were talking about?'

_'Yeah, she heard me describing the box,'_ Sam said.

'Nosy, much?'

_'Well, I am right next to her,' _Sam reasoned.

'Fair point,' Dean agreed. 'So that box had a hidden compartment?'

_'Yeah. So, you think the ring was in it? We burnt everything back at Bobby's.' _Sam paused. _'But…it wouldn't have been hot enough to melt a silver ring.'_

'Crap,' Dean swore as he realised what that meant. 'If Blakely was attached to the ring, that means…'

_'He's back at Bobby's,' _Sam finished for Dean, confirming his fears.

'Gotta go. I'll call you back.'

_'Wait, did you get the demon?' _Sam asked suddenly. _'It completely slipped my mind. Is Athaya alright?'_

Dean realised Sam didn't know about Crowley. 'Yeah…she's fine…and the demon…' Dean needed to decide whether he was going to tell Sam about the uneasy alliance he was with the crossroads demon. It would make things complicated, but it might clear up problems later on. Unfortunately, it would also take forever to explain.

And Dean didn't have forever.

'I killed the demon. Athaya's a bit shaken, but fine. The demon didn't do anything.'

_'Well, what did it want?' _Sam asked, the bewilderment clear in his voice.

'It…' _Think fast, Dean. _'It wanted to make a deal.' It was more or less the truth. Ish.

_'Well, good job you got her back, say hi when you – wait. She's not with you, is she?' _A note of fear crept into Sam's voice and Dean started the car. He'd done enough talking.

'No,' he said begrudgingly. 'I left her back at Bobby's.'

'Dean! _Blakely's back there! She's the perfect target!'_

'I know, dammit!' Dean pulled out of car park and raced down the road towards Bobby's. He pulled phone down and saw that he had two missed calls. Both from Athaya.

_Shit. _

'I'm ten minutes away, tops.'

_'Do want me to come?' _Sam asked, and Dean could almost picture him packing up his things, leaving Chelsea with Bobby. That would go _great_, Dean was sure.

'Uh, no. I'm sure she's fine. She can handle herself, and I'm on my way.' _She's also got a love-struck demon looking after her, _Dean added mentally. 'Besides, you need to take care of Chelsea.'

_'Alright…' _Dean heard the tension leave Sam's voice a little. _'But call me as soon as you make sure she's okay, alright?'_

'Absolutely. Don't worry about it, Sammy. She'll be fine.' He hung up and dialled Athaya's number, the guilt and a small prick of fear sending a chill through his stomach when she didn't answer.

_Crowley better keep her safe._

**AN: ****See you all next week, folks! **

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


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